Being mentally strong means being able to regulate your thoughts, being aware of emotions and managing them and being productive. Mentally strong kids are prepared for the challenges of the world. They are able to take both success and failure in their stride and move forward. The foundation of this mental strength is laid in childhood. Raising mentally strong kids, equipped to take on real-world challenges requires efforts on the part of parents too. Parents of mentally strong kids practice several core values. Just to be clear though, being mentally strong does not mean acting tough or suppressing your emotions. It is also not about being unkind or acting defiant. Instead, mentally strong kids are resilient and have the courage and confidence to reach their full potential and not let their emotions get the better of them.

Helping kids develop mental strength requires a three-pronged approach. This involves teaching them to replace negative thoughts with more realistic thoughts, helping them to learn emotional control and showing them how to take positive action.

Parenting strategies that parents of mentally strong kids adopt and you can too

#1. They let their children make mistakes

This advice may seem counterintuitive to most parents. After all, we believe that as parents it’s our job to stop our kids from making mistakes, guiding them on every aspect of their life. However, whether it is getting a few questions wrong on their homework or forgetting to pack their shoes for a school football practice, it is only when kids make their own mistakes and then face consequences of those, will they learn from them. Parents of mentally strong kids never shy away from talking about their children's mistakes. Also read: Why it is important to discipline your child at the right age? If you correct all their homework mistakes for them or constantly remind them about things to be packed, they will never get the onus to do these things on their own. Instead, you have to teach them that mistakes are a part of the learning process and they need not be ashamed or embarrassed about getting something wrong. It is best to allow them to experience the consequences if you deem it safe and then discuss how to avoid repeating the same mistake next time

#2. They Don’t Parent Out Of Guilt

Many times as parents we feel guilty of not spending enough time with our kids or not being able to be present with them due to other chores. This leads to guilt parenting such as giving in to the child’s every demand or overindulging the child on the holidays. Parents, who raise mentally strong kids, know that although guilt is uncomfortable, it doesn’t translate to right parenting approach and thus they refuse to let their guilt feelings stop them from making wise choices. Also read: 5 Ways To Teach Gender Equality To Children

#3. They teach their kids to be responsible for their own emotions

When our children throw a tantrum, get angry or are sad, our first instinct is to calm them down or cheer them up. We adopt many strategies for this and feel successful as parents if we are able to help them regulate their emotions. However, the strategy adopted by parents to raise mentally strong kids is to teach the kids to deal with uncomfortable emotions on their own. It is important that the kids do not rely on you to regulate their moods. They should know how to identify and understand their own feelings and how to deal with them. This makes them better prepared to deal with challenges.

#4. They encourage their child to face fears head-on

All kids have certain fears, rational or irrational. However, if a child avoids things that scare him all the time, he will never gain the requisite confidence for handling things that scare him or make him uncomfortable. Whether it is a fear of the dark or fear of meeting new people altogether, for raising a mentally strong child, parents have to help them face their fears one small step at a time. Instead of being overly protective of them, let them face their fears in a safe environment, praise them for being brave and they will learn that they can step outside their comfort zone.

Also read: 25 Essential Habits that Parents must Teach their Kids

#5. They allow their children to feel uncomfortable at times

It can be tempting to rush to your child’s help whenever he or she is struggling. However, this behaviour will only reinforce the belief that they are helpless and need to run to their parents for help whenever they are stressed or are uncomfortable. Parents of mentally strong kids let their child lose, allow them to feel bored and let them feel uncomfortable at times. For example, if a kid does not want to make new friends and clings on to you the whole time in the playground, instead of always playing with him, you have to leave him and allow him to play and make friends on his own, even though this will lead to some anxiety on his part. Parents who rear mentally strong kids view their roles as that of ‘guides’ rather than ‘body guards’.

#6. They do not make their children the centre of the universe

It can be tempting to make your life revolve around your child. Our culture also seems to promote this idea, especially for mothers. However, kids who get used to having their own way and feel like they are the centre of the universe grow up to be self-absorbed and entitled. For raising kids who are mentally strong, it is important to let them focus on what they can offer to people and the world around them rather than always focussing on what they can gain from it. Kids used to having everything done for them and getting every demand met, may be ill-equipped to strongly face the ups and downs of life.

#7. They don't let their children avoid responsibility

Parents of mentally strong children teach responsibility at an early age. Most of us let our children get away without doing any chores. Even the responsibility of cleaning of the room clean , keeping the toys and books in place often falls on the head of parents or a caretaker. This is one thing parents of mentally strong kids avoid. Instead of believing that , ‘kids should just be kids’ and letting them get away from any responsibility to keep their we need to expect children to pitch in. They need to be assigned age appropriate responsibilities so that they learn the skills they need to become responsible citizens. Kids who perform age-appropriate duties aren't overburdened. Instead, they gain mental strength as well as much needed self dependence. Parenting is all about learning and adapting and doing your best for the overall growth and development of your kids. By ensuring that you adopt the right parenting approach towards raising mentally strong kids, you will give your children the skills and confidence they'll need to reach their greatest potential. Also read: 5 Common Questions Children Ask from their Parents & How to Answer Them Want to share your experience as a mom with other moms through words or images? Become a part of the Moms United community. Click here and we will get in touch with you

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