Some children are resilient by nature. Unfortunately not every child has such natural resilience.
You can promote a lasting sense of resilience in your kids by:
*Having a positive attitude yourself. Your attitude as a parent impacts on their ability to bounce back from some of the difficulties they face. Make sure you model a ‘you can do it’ attitude for your child when he/she meets some of life’s curveballs
*Look for teachable moments. Many kids learning opportunities are disguised as problems. Make the most of these opportunities so that kids can grow and learn from some of the challenge they face.
*Make kids active participants in the family. Active participation in a family develops self help, problem solving and independence skills
*Build kids coping skills. There are plenty of strategies you can pass onto kids to help them cope when life doesn’t go their way, including acceptance, getting away for a while and normalizing the event
Promoting resilence in kids is a not a single event but a continuous process that requires adults to be supportive and empathetic when things don’t go their way. It also requires you as a parent to have an understanding of resilience, so you have faith in yourself and your child’s ability to cope.