الأطفال يحتاجون إلى تحديات

ما الذي يحفز سعة الحيلة؟

في عملنا، نلاحظ في كثير من الأحيان أن غالبًا ما يطور الأشخاص الذين ينحدرون من أسر فوضوية ومثيرة للمشاكل موارد حياتية مهمة في وقت مبكر جدًا من حياتهم: for example intelligence (in order to understand confusing situations and to find a way out of such situations), perseverance, inner strength, ability to cope with difficulties, sensibility, empathy, sense of humor (as a way of relieving one’s own and other people’s unpleasant emotions, or as a strategy of finding one’s place within a group).

Likewise, it can be frequently noticed that children who grow up in protective families which provide everything they can, grow up into average and often not particularly strong and confident people. Sometimes they can become egotistic and spoiled people, as it can be seen especially in the last several decades when “children first” is a prevalent attitude and many parents neglect the need to set boundaries and teach the child to cooperate. (This unbalanced attitude is partly a reaction to “adults first” approach of past decades and centuries – and health is in balancing everybody’s needs.)

Of course, this is not a rule, but it happens a lot. Every family is a complex whole, and the child’s experiences are multidimensional. There are no mathematical criteria according to which all influences and their consequences for a child could be organized. Likewise, the same kind of influence can cause different consequences, of which some are unpleasant, and some are useful and important: chaos and traumas can trigger the development of the above mentioned resources and positive features as a way to survive, but at the same time they can cause lasting fear, anger, guilt and a negative self-image. Parental care and attention can create a feeling that we are worthy and acceptable, but also average or below average abilities, motivation and self-confidence on the other hand, due to lack of challenges. As in the case of most individual and global life circumstances, العواقب لا تكون أبداً سوداء أو بيضاء, but always a combination of the “positive” and “negative”.

العديد من الأشخاص الذين كانوا بقوة محميون من قبل والديهم يقولون إن هذه الحماية جعلتهم غير آمنين و غير قادر على التأقلم with challenges, since they didn’t have much chance to experience whether they were able to cope with unpleasant situations, or to practice resourcefulness and creativity. On the other hand, nobody would like to be in the shoes of those who suffered neglect, abuse or ridicule. Such people know very well that they had to pay a high price for their inner strength, by acquiring some unpleasant patterns.

Don’t worry – you don’t have to neglect or traumatize your children so that they would become resourceful. With some awareness and effort, you can enable your children to “have their cake and eat it”. What is important are not strong and frequent غير سارة الخبرات، ولكن بشكل كبير ومتكرر التحديات. This is what families who protect their children often lack: they may neglect the children’s need to face challenging situations which would stimulate their hidden resources.

تشكيل التحديات

يمكنك تشكيل التحديات بحيث تحفز التفكير والإدراك والحساسية والقوة في الوقت الذي تكون فيه مهتمًا ومعتنيًا بطفلك في الوقت نفسه. يكمن المفتاح في منح أطفالك الدعم العاطفيوفي الوقت نفسه ترك لهم إكمال أكبر عدد ممكن من المهام الصعبة.

You’ll need to adjust the challenges to the stage of the children’s development, to target approximately the upper limit of their current abilities, exceeding just a little their “zone of comfort”, enough to make it problematic and not easy, but not so difficult for the children to get discouraged and start doubting themselves. Children do it spontaneously, always reaching a little higher, always trying to get a little further and better. Observe your children carefully in order to find out if a challenge suits them. If the child is at least partially interested and motivated, you can continue. If you notice that they show strong sings of stress or fear, it’s a good idea to postpone the task and find another, easier one.

توفير ما يلي العديد من التحديات المختلفة قدر الإمكان: تتراوح بين جسديًا ones (dressing, tying shoes, including children in household work – don’t give them your fragile china to clean, though), فكرية (e.g. buy a book of puzzles or games that require thinking, teach the child to read or to speak a foreign language as early as possible – a two or three-year old child can slowly get used to recognizing letters, and at the age of four many children are ready to start reading), up to اجتماعي المهام (حل المشاكل المتعلقة بالعلاقات والتواصل). شكل تلك التحديات على شكل ألعاببقدر الإمكان.

Avoid offering ready-made solutions to the child. It’s better to help the child think about possible solutions by asking sub-questions. Encourage them to create أكبر عدد ممكن من الحلول, e.g. “Johnny is mocked by other children at school. Think about at least 10 different things that Johnny could do about it.” Follow the children’s thinking process and help them with الأسئلة الفرعية such as: “Which unpleasant consequences can you think of? Who other could you include? What is important to know about other children and why are they doing what they are doing? Have you forgotten something? Can some of these solutions be improved?” Be gentle with those questions and don’t push so much to discourage the child.

اعمل بذكاء وليس بجهد أكبر

Certainly, lack of time is a problem for many parents. However, you do not have to sit the entire day with your children asking them such questions. It’s enough to have such conversations during other daily tasks, and to take advantage of situations when your child has a real problem. You can use time during lunch breaks at work or the ride back home from work to think about new challenges for your children.

دع أطفالك يتعرضون للأذى أو الخدش أو الحرق من حين لآخر, especially if they ignore your warnings (use common sense and make sure there is no risk of serious injury, though). This won’t have long term emotional consequences, but the children will learn reasonable caution and to assess their abilities and the consequences of their actions more accurately. Avoid attempting – except in situations of serious bullying – to solve their conflicts with other children instead of them. Children are قادرة على التأقلم with the unpleasantness of these conflicts – actually, many people go through much more difficult social experiences as children than as adults – quite successfully, if they have your الدعم العاطفي والتشجيع.

However, you can help them to think about these conflicts and their possible solutions. If your children are fighting amongst themselves, avoid acting like a judge by random punishments, but don’t ignore them either. (A good question to ask might be: “What would you do now if you were in my place?”) ساعدهم في مناقشة ما يشعرون به وما يريدونه. قد تحتاجين إلى توفير المزيد من الحماية لأحد الطفلين إذا كان الآخر متنمرًا مستمرًا، ولكن فكري أولاً في دوافع هذا الأخير للعنف.

Avoid trying to make your child’s life easier in terms of daily tasks. As soon as they can do something – eat, dress, do their homework … – avoid doing it for them, as much as possible. It helps if you القيام بالأشياء معاً – this makes the tasks less boring and builds your relationship. Emotional support and acceptance are the most important. Avoid verbal or non-verbal criticism, except when it’s needed (but avoid undeserved praise, too). You will make your child’s and your own life easier – the child’s in the long term, and yours both short and long term.

إذا أظهر أطفالك اهتمامًا بـ القراءةشجّعها بكل الوسائل الممكنة. Reading provides a wealth of valuable “second-hand experience”والبصيرة والأفكار حول كيفية مواجهة التحديات. توفر القراءة أيضًا العديد من الفرص لـ تجربة المشاعر واستكشافها في بيئة آمنة. وهذا يساعد الأطفال على بناء علاقة أفضل مع ذواتهم. وبالطبع، تثري القراءة المعرفة العامة والتفكير المعقد. فقط احرص على اختيار الكتب التي يحبها أطفالك؛ فإجبارهم على القراءة لن يؤدي إلا إلى خلق مقاومة ربما مدى الحياة. ومرة أخرى، كن قدوة لهم قدر الإمكان. 

استخدم حكمتك

إن وظيفة الوالدين، في رأيي، ليست هي أن اصنع طفل سعيد. The key to parenting is to teach children how to إنشاء السعادة على الرغم من المشاكل والتحديات. ويمكن القيام بذلك من خلال القدوة الشخصية، وكذلك من خلال دعم الأطفال عاطفياً وفكرياً عندما يواجهون المشاكل.

لا يتمثل دور الوالدين في تقديم الحلول دائمًا، بل في تعليم الأطفال وتشجيعهم وتمكينهم من إيجاد حلولهم الخاصة بهم كلما كان ذلك مناسبًا بالنظر إلى أعمارهم وظروفهم. 

من الأدوار الأخرى للوالدين الأصحاء تشجيع الطفل على الإيمان ستكون الأمور على ما يرام ويمكن تصحيحها حتى عندما تكون هناك مشاكل. فالأطفال الذين يتلقون مثل هذه المواساة العاطفية والتشجيع، بالإضافة إلى التحديات المناسبة، عندما يكبرون سيكونون قادرين على البقاء على قدر من الحيلة حتى في حالات الضغط الشديد. 

يحاول الكثير من الآباء والأمهات حماية أطفالهم من المشاكل والإحباط. ومن ناحية أخرى، فإن المشاكل والإحباط محفزات. فهي تدفع الأطفال إلى تنمية مواردهم. يمكنك فقط مساعدة الأطفال على إيجاد السعادة على المدى الطويل إذا لم تصر على أن يكونوا سعداء طوال الوقت.

As with all life advice, use your common sense when making decisions. Don’t exaggerate. Find balance. Listen to your gut. And relax. Even if you were a perfect parent, it wouldn’t be good for your child.

بهذه الطرق، ومن خلال بذل بعض الجهد والوعي الإضافي، يمكنك مساعدة طفلك على بناء أساس متين ونقطة انطلاق قوية لخلق حياة عالية الجودة على جميع المستويات.

ذات صلة:

كيفية تعليم الأطفال كيفية استخدام حدسهم

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