Raising Happy Diabetic Kids - Teaching Self-Confidence
Teaching your children the three selfs: confidence, reliance, and control...
As my family gets older and matures with this disease of diabetes, I think back to the early days, questions come to mind: Why aren't we all on medication for depression? Why don't we have standing twice a week appointments with a psychiatrist? How did we end up so normal? As I recall, this didn't happen by accident, nor am I Super Dad, and I certainly didn't plan it out step by step. It was mostly just paying attention, luck, and decent communication between my girls and me, granted sometimes at the top of our lungs...The first thing I suggest you do is very important - Trust Yourself! Remember, our children are who they had in mind when they coined the phrase "monkey see monkey do." It's okay to do it your way. There're three components to raising happy kids, diabetic or not. They are Self-Confidence, Self-Reliance, and Self-Control. The more of these components your monkeys see in you, the more of these components you will see in your monkeys!
I'm going to put out some ideas here, but you're the boss of your situation. Do it your way.
Upon reading the three components above you might ask "but where is self esteem?" I'll save that particular ramble for another day. Let me just assure you that if your child has self-confidence, self-reliance, and self-control then self-esteem comes naturally.
What is Self-Confidence? Self-Confidence is:
- Trusting your ability to form and sustain relationships
- Trusting your ability to complete various tasks well, knowing that others value your abilities
- Trusting your ability to manage new situations
- Trusting your own judgements and common sense
As you can see trust is a key element of self-confidence. When our children don't have that measure of consistency and predictability in their lives it becomes difficult for them to gain the necessary trust either in themselves or in others to become self-confident. So if our children see that the people who are most important to them (us as parents) trust them (the children) and will provide them with a consistant environment, they will begin to trust themselves, their judgements, and those of the people around them. And from this rises the beginning of common sense.(Yahoo!)
How do our children acquire Self-Confidence? Self-Confidence comes from:
- Being accepted for who you are
- Having someone show confidence in you
- Knowing there is something you are good at
- Having firm expectations of other people's behavior
- Not being afraid of failure
- Developing competence with the safety of a parent close by
- Seeing others you admire and copy, being confident and happy
It seems so easy when you write it down. When you think about it what are the components that have to be in place? Trust and Predictability, Competence, and Sociability.
Trust and Predictability - We all know that routines are important for developing feelings of trust and security. Think about the routines and relationships between you and your family and friends. How much do they keep to a pattern? Will your child begin each day with a reasonably clear idea of what will happen and when?
Competence - Being good at things. We all have different talents and abilities. We need to help our children identify the things they are good at and encourage them. These skills fall into a couple of different catagories.
- Practical: Seeing how to make or mend things, and build things
- Physical: Good at sports, kicking or catching a ball, swimming, running
- Mental: Good ideas about things, good at solving practical problems, good at schoolwork
- Social: Good at playing with others, kind and considerate, good at making new friends
- Process: Being good at tying new things, sticking with difficult tasks and so on
Sociability - Trust and develope their social skills. Involve them moderately in your social life. If we have our children with us, it shows not only are we happy to have them with us, but also that we trust they will behave appropriately. Getting used to being in new situations, and learning to talk to different people will increase our children's confidence considerably.
Here's one that took me a while to figure out. Give your child advance warning of your feelings: of short temper, tiredness, sadness, or whatever. "I've had a lousy day at work and I'm very crabby. It might be smart to keep your head down and your mouth shut." Or "I've had an argument with so and so and I'm feeling hurt. If I'm short with you I'm sorry." This not only teaches them techniques for managing their own feelings, but gives them a chance to learn sensitivity to the feelings and moods of others. These are essential social skills not only for now, but for later on in life.
Our children will develope self-confidence only if we have first shown trust and confidence in them and have given them an environment which they can predict and trust. Diabetes and all of the unpredictability, feelings of powerlessness, and exclusion that sometimes go with it just make this process a little more difficult. I look at it this way, if it was easy any idiot could do it. Well, we're not just any idiot. We're special idiots. We have been entrusted with the care and upbringing of a diabetic child. So remember you are a special person entrusted with a very special task. Trust yourself. It's okay to do it your way.
Continue onto the next article in this series, Part Two, about raising happy diabetic kids. Find out how to foster Self-Reliance. And for the final section of this article, Part Three, looks at teaching Self-Control.
About the author: Russell Turner is the father of a 10 year old Type 1 Juvenile Diabetic daughter. When she was first diagnosed, he quickly found there was all kinds of information on the internet about the medical aspects of this disease. What he couldn't find was information about how to prepare his family to live with diabetes. He started a website http://www.mychildhasdiabetes.com and designed it so parents of newly diagnosed children would have a one-stop resource to learn to prepare for life with diabetes.
Within minutes of reading "The Natural Diabetes Handbook" you will learn that you have the power to block, completely control,
and in some cases reverse this disease that is becoming an epidemic throughout the world!
Learn Natural Approaches to Diabetes to...
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News about Children and Self-confidence
SOS Children's Villages Voices Support For US Open Defending Champion Kim ... PR Newswire (press release) At Simba House, SOS gives refuge to children from families in crisis and helps them regain their self-confidence. "Kim's support of SOS has been a true ... |
NASCAR Driver Tony Stewart and the Office Depot Foundation Team Up to Donate ... MarketWatch (press release) Parents and teachers alike tell us that we truly are helping children to build self-confidence, boost self-esteem and achieve greater success in the ... |
Students of self-defense, self-confidence Montgomery County Courier With the start of school, children are arriving home, changing into their gis and belts and starting another kind of class – martial arts ... |
Swedesboro's Jane Eyre hones competitive edge on sabre Philadelphia Inquirer In her mid-40s, she also was itching for a way to express a newfound sense of self-confidence. Eyre signed up for fencing and within just a few sessions ... |
 Washington Post | Marguerite Kelly's Family Almanac: How to help a bullied daughter Washington Post Should she get counseling to rebuild her shattered self-confidence? Or should we send her to the small, private girls' school that her little sister attends ... |
Not just kiddie talk: Children learn about communicating — on TV Asbury Park Press "The ultimate thing is it's giving the inner self-confidence that you can do it, and that what you have to say is of importance. ... |
 Opposing Views | Yoga for Special Needs Kids: Stretching Mind and Body Opposing Views ... through yoga exercise has inspired Evans to continue with the practice and help other children to gain self-confidence and have fun through yoga. ... |
 Sydney Morning Herald | Coaching children to succeed Sydney Morning Herald Having self-confidence is important, but confidence comes and goes. What can stay constant though is an optimistic life attitude. ... |
 Care2.com (blog) | Girls Now Think They're Smarter Than Boys Care2.com (blog) It's up to parents to build self-confidence, and for the rest of society to at least attempt not to chip away at it. Growing smart, confident girls is our ... |
IN THE MATTER OF MARRIAGE OF BRADBURRY Leagle.com C lost all but one of his matches, and the losses dealt a substantial blow to his self-confidence. As mother explained, C did well in football, ... |
Diabetes ResourcesIs Freedom From Diabetes Possible? Check Out The Diabetes Breakthrough Diabetic Terms are Defined! At Diet-Cure's Diabetic Dictionary Deeply Discounted Diabetic Supplies DiabetesStore.Com Lower Your Blood Sugar Naturally Cure Insulin Resistance Fight Type 2 Diabetes & WIN! Treat Diabetic Neuropathy Rebuild Damaged Nerves and Improve Blood Circulation The ReBuilder®. |
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