Decalogue To Help Your Child Make Decisions

Know the importance of helping your child make decisions. It should be done gradually and always surrounded by understanding and support.

You may often wonder where the boundary is between being overprotective and allowing your children to explore the world safely. Don’t worry, you are not the only one, because educating a child is much more complicated than it seems and, as they grow older, things can get interesting. Helping your child to make decisions is essential, since the way in which he faces the world in the future depends on it.

When your children are born, you take on the responsibility of deciding absolutely everything for them, but as they get older, you have to let go according to their age and invite them to be the ones to decide. For this reason, we are going to give you some easy and very specific tips to help your children in this task.

Why is it important to learn to make decisions?

Making decisions is a basic necessity. Throughout life, situations constantly arise that force you to choose between one thing and another, which implies having to reject some of the options. If you don’t get practice, it can be very dizzying.

To decide, you are based on the previous experiences that you have had about a similar event or what has happened to someone you know. Thus, in the case of children, it becomes somewhat complicated if we take into account that they have nothing to compare with, since they have not yet acquired too much experience. Hence the importance of teaching them.

This is one of the most delicate tasks that, as parents, we acquire. It requires great effort and perseverance, as well as a great deal of patience, since, as children grow, so do their responsibilities and, with it, the need to make decisions.

10 ways to help your child make decisions

1. Give him responsibilities. Take into account his mature age and, based on it, give him tasks to do at home. When taking responsibility, you will have to face certain difficulties and, with it, to look for solutions to decide how to solve the problem.
2. Beware of overprotection. We know that you want to avoid negative consequences, but by deciding for him, you are depriving him of learning from the mistake. It is about being by his side to comfort him if he needs it and that you guide him if he asks, but giving him the opportunity to manage alone.
3. Guide him in setting priorities. If your child has several alternatives to decide from, encourage him to see this as a challenge to pay attention to. Give him your opinion and advice so that he takes into account what his priorities are and the options that best suit his interests. Finally, let it decide to promote autonomy and independence.
4. Small doses of freedom. As children grow older, their decision making progressively increases.
5. A list of pros and cons. If you see that he is having a hard time making a decision, you can suggest that he make a list of the positive and negative points of each option. This will give you a more concrete perspective.
   

So you can help your child make decisions

1. Emotions speak. Teach him to connect with his emotions. Fear is normal when doing something new, but it may be preventing you from daring to do something you like. While over-enthusiasm can cause you to ignore real risks.
2. That you comply with your decision. Once he has chosen an option, you should insist that he carry it out. Only then can you really weigh the consequences of what you have decided.
3. The courage to be wrong. Error is a form of learning and it will give you that parameter with which to assess similar situations in the future. Do not punish or reproach him if he has made a bad decision, otherwise, he may develop fear of making a mistake and with this, decision-making will be a world.
4. Get started as soon as possible. From a very young age, children can learn to decide. First enter the color of the stroller with which they are going to play and then with greater challenges. It is never too early to start.
5. Teach him that there are no bad decisions. It is very important that you always show yourself on their side. Even when choosing an option that has not worked so well, it will always be an opportunity to learn and do better.

We hope we have provided you with valuable information to help your child make decisions. Remember that the most important thing is to show your support and teach him to accept failure as part of learning.