Kids don’t want to feel like kids forever. Of course, many of us who have reached adulthood wish that we did still feel like kids! (Many of us do still feel like kids in a grown up body!) While many parents like to indulge their children’s youthful desires when it comes to things like silly toys and shirts with Dora the Explorer or Spongebob Squarepants, it can be more difficult to know how to help them transition to their more mature years.
Kids can start to want to appear more grown up from a variety of ages. Some may start to show the obvious signs when they’re entering their teenage years, but others may start to display this when they’re just getting beyond the age of eight! They interested in looking and talking a bit more grown up and be treated in the same way – especially when they’ve got their peers to consider! So how can parents help with this?
We’re going to take a quick look at the ways in which we can help children look and feel a bit more mature!
Give them more responsibilities
Don’t make the mistake of overlooking your kids abilities. They are more capable than you think. If they want more trust and to be treated like a grown up than a great way to show they are ready is to take on a few more responsibilities at home. That can be having more chores, waking themselves up for school in the morning, cooking dinner once a week and so on. Slowly taking on more responsibilities around the house will teach them new skills that will help them be better prepared for adulthood.
Stylish clothing
Clothing is always a bit of a tricky area with children. After all, how much do you want to spend on clothing that they’re going to outgrow fairly soon? This is especially tricky as they start turning into teenagers and they seem to grow a few centimetres every day! When you throw footwear into the mix, things get even more complicated! So when people talk about stylish clothing, it can seem like it would be a waste of money to go too far down the ‘stylish’ route. The trick, of course, is to find outlets and brands that specialize in affordable stylish clothing for kids. H&M have always been reliable for this sort of thing; you may also want to look into shopping for out-of-season clothes for next year. Sometimes splurging on one really nice stylish item and then spending the rest of your budget on cheaper discounted items is a great way to go. As long as there are no cartoon characters or cheesy slogans, they should do the trick!
Gadgets
As kids get older they have more activities, homework and social situations that use and rely on electronic devices. Phones and laptops are a very effective way to help kids feel more mature and trusted and have more resources to get the things done that they need to. Of course, many parents have a lot of very understandable concerns, especially when it comes to phones. If you do decide to give your child a phone, then you can use parental monitoring software to keep track of things and make sure they stay safe. There’s similar software available for Internet activity on laptops; you can also adjust settings with your Internet service provider to block particular types of websites if you want to ensure they don’t see certain sorts of material.
Conversation topics
You should always go with your instinct when deciding what sort of topics you should shouldn’t bring up with a child as they start to grow up and want to know more about how the world works. Every child is different and handles new information differently. But its important to have those conversations and frequently. You have so many options when it comes to topics, however. Getting more involved in discussions about their schoolwork is definitely one way of doing it; trusting them to use their own resources instead of guiding them with their homework is another way. You can also see if they will be more engaged with what’s going on in the world now that they’re moving on with childish cartoons! Watching more appropriate mature entertainment and even checking out the news together might help introduce points of discussion that will help them feel more intelligent and mature.
Children need guidance as they make their way to adulthood and its our job to help them be well prepared and have the confidence and skills for when they strike out on their own.
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