Investing In Our Children

Investing in our future means investing in our children

by Tanya Murphy

We make some huge investments in our life. Work. Family. Education. Cars. Houses. Holidays. Our Children. When we invest precious time in our children we build the underlying skills and behaviours essential to a child’s lifelong learning, behaviour and health. Early experiences set the pathways for a child’s life. We want a future where our children flourish not just function throughout their lives. How do we do this in the busyness of everyday life? What do we focus on that will benefit our children’s wellbeing? Over the past decade, Positive Psychology has grown in prominence across educational and parenting platforms. Positive Psychology focuses on what joyful, resilient and well-adjusted people do. By focusing on what works, we can help children learn and develop the skills needed to flourish now and into the future.

Time for connection and fun.

Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships. Spending quality time where you both experience humour, affection and joy results in positive emotions. These positive emotions strengthen connection and build a sense of belonging. Savouring joyful moments with your child encourages them to do the same and reminds them of those fun and connecting moments you have together.

Time to cherish what we value.

Our values impact the decisions we make on how we spend our time. Our values make us who we are. Share your values with your child, family and community. When children are in an environment that shares and fosters their values, they feel secure, happy and energised. Make a list with your child of your family values, and share out loud when your child chooses those values.

Time to focus of feelings.

Take a moment to identify with your child how they feel and how their body responds when experiencing different emotions. Share with children that feelings are not good or bad, it is the choices we make when we experience these emotions that can require guidance or support. Sometimes, by simply naming an emotion, we bring awareness to the feelings we experience. Over time, we are helping our children to develop self-awareness to organise their emotions.

Time to strength-spot.

Children are superheroes. Every child has individualised character traits for thinking, feeling and behaving. When children embrace their strengths, they are energised and confident. Children need help to develop an awareness to their strengths, but by having this awareness children’s self-esteem is boosted.

Time to develop a Growth Mindset.

Having a growth mindset enables a child to focus on the journey, create a love of learning and to realise setbacks and challenges are a part of the process. With a growth mindset children understand their abilities can be developed through effort, dedication and persistence. A growth mindset is a valuable tool, especially when approaching new and challenging situations, such as learning to play soccer or starting a new school. By thinking growth, being open-minded and realising they have ownership, children see the world is a place of opportunities.

Investing in your child’s wellbeing is a pay-off for the future. Children with a positive wellbeing learn inner resources which they can draw upon to navigate challenges and savour the joyfulness they will encounter. The biggest and best investment we can give our children is our time and there are a myriad of ways we can give it.