It is the desire of every parent to raise obedient, well-behaved, loving and respectful kids. However, this is not as easy as it sounds.
Many parents are failing in the manner in which they raise their kids, contributing to bad habits without knowing.
What most of us forget is the fact that children are on a learning curve and will capture even the smallest habits. So, they will capture both good and bad behaviour.
No parent will accept that they have contributed to the bad behaviour portrayed by their kids. However, parents play a big role in the bad habits portrayed by their children.
The following are ways through which parents facilitate bad habits in their own kids.
1. Yelling
Most parents think that yelling enhances response in kids, but it has the negative effect of destroying the relationship between you and your child. Studies show that talking to your child in a friendly but firm manner strengthens the relationship between the two of you.
2. Inconsistency
When you deny your kid something, for example, a sweet he/she tends to react by throwing a fit. If you do not maintain your stand on denying the sweet but end up giving the kid the sweet, it sends a message to the child that if I throw a fit, I will get what I want.
3. Showing support for their behaviour
Maybe it doesn't bother you when your kid runs round and round singing his/her favorite song in a public place like a restaurant. However, it causes disturbance to others around you. Failure to stop the habit encourages them to continue doing the same causing more disturbances.
4. Supporting whining
Most parents have the tendency of giving in to their kids’ demands like wanting to eat chicken and nothing else. He/she will refuse to eat what others are eating e.g vegetables. Your continued acceptance to their whining behaviour creates a child, who is self-centred, continuously complaining and rarely contented.
5. Showing affection after a violent behaviour
Some parents have the tendency of hugging and cuddling their kids even after they have hit, pinched or kicked another child. This is wrong because a child should never be rewarded after doing a bad thing. Rewarding him/her is encouraging the behaviour to continue.