|
Where am I?
|
Coping skills for our kidsClick here for a printable version of this document The text for this topic is copyright Parenting SA, Government of South Australia.It's breakfast time ... 5 year old Jomurri is making his own breakfast. His mother says"Put the milk down, I'll tip it for you, you'll waste it all." Jomurri says, "No, me can do it". Then he pours all what’s left of the milk into his bowl. His mother says,"See, now there's no more left, none for me, none for Illanya and no milk left for your drink." Jomurri looks at his mother and then cries. She says, "See, no good crying Jomurri, nothing for you to drink now." Jomurri says, "Me can't have a drink now?" His mother says, "Shouldn't have tipped it all over your breakfast, unna?"
This is our way of teaching our kids to learn to make decisions. When they are old enough kids have to be responsible for their decisions and the choices they make and wear the consequences, whether good or bad. All this is part of becoming a responsible person. We want our kids to become strong and healthy, and that means physically strong and healthy as well as spiritually strong and healthy. This is one of the best things we as parents can do for them. We need to teach them to be independent, and to be able to stand up for themselves, do things for themselves and handle the hard things that they come up against. Tough things for kidsSometimes kids can have stressful things happen for them. It might be when you get sick or if you have money problems. The arrival of a new baby, parents home, going into a new school, making new friends, being bullied, having a disability, someone special dying ... all these things can make a big difference in your kid's life. Building strengthsSometimes though, we cannot stop things going wrong, but we can try to help our kids build on the strengths that will help them to get through tough times.
(See the parent guide called 'Optimism' which talks about how to help kids look on the bright side). These things might helpYou can help build your kid's confidence when you:
These places might be able to help you
ACT Govt Publication No 08/0618 May 2008 (Revised 0707) |




