Richard Templar, a seasoned psychologist and parenting expert once wrote, “If your children are ever going to take risks, you're bound to be worry.”

Yeah, Rich's words are true. But you’ve to keep your worries to yourself.

According to Rich, “You'll worry when they climb trees, you'll worry when they learn to drive, you'll worry when they go off on holiday without you... What you've to remember is that you're not the only one. Your kids worry about all these things too... but determined to make themselves do it.”

Your job as a parent is not to increase the worries and fears of your child each time they want to take a reasonable risk.

Your job is to reassure them. Give them the confidence to go ahead. Make them feel that everything is fine even when your stomach is full of butterflies.

Hide your worries at such times and give a placid smile of reassurance. That's your job as a parent. It's tough, but someone has to do it. And that someone is you.

Richard Templar goes ahead to give a valuable counsel to parents, thus:

“Try and stop yourself [from] saying ‘Be careful’ every time your child steps out of the door. Not only does it imply a lack of trust in your offspring, but a child who is told to ‘be careful’ when they carry something fragile is much more likely to drop it than if nothing is said. ‘Be careful‘ can start to make a child think something is about to go wrong.”

Children are heavily influenced by their parents, and parents can saddle their kids with all sorts of worries if they (parents) are not careful. Since your children are bound to come up with plenty of fears of their own, they really don't need yours as well. So keep them to yourself.

Again, keep your worries to yourself.

#ParentsTakeNote

~Chidi C. Ifeachor