Advice for Educating Children in Happiness

Educating a child in happiness is the most important task that you are going to face as a parent. You will want to give your child a good education and values, but the most basic thing is to paint a smile on his or face each and every day.

Because if you do not think about a child’s happiness when you are educating them, none of the rest will be worth anything. The best way for a child to want to learn and internalize values is through relationships in which they feel protected and by enjoying happiness every day.

Below, I would like to give you a series of tips for educating a child in happiness. It’s a complex, but truly inspiring task that will fill your heart and soul with satisfaction and pride.

Never turn your frustrations against them

If you want to educate your children in happiness, be sure that you never, under any circumstance, turn your frustrations against them. Their hearts will not be capable of understanding why so much is being demanded of them.

Maybe your childhood dream was to be the best football player or the best in your class, but have you ever asked your children if that is what they really want? They really do take after you – we must not forget that they carry your genes – but they are different people, with their own needs and desires.

Achieve good communication

When it comes time to educate children it is absolutely necessary for you to have good communication with them. 

For example, it is logical for frustration to come up at times, both in children and in parents, given that the children have not completely developed their communication skills and capacities. However, you must not fall into despair.

When you try to communicate with your children, or you observe some strange or eye-catching behavior, think about yourself. But think about yourself when you were a child. Make the effort and do some introspection, step back into the past. What did you feel? What motivated you? What made you happy? You will probably find a lot of yourself in them, and this will help you to understand them better.

Use empathy

Related to last point, when it comes time to educate your children in happiness, empathy is a highly valuable tool, for this will allow you to understand your little ones a lot better.

Understanding your own childhood desires and needs is greatly helpful for understanding and empathizing with your children.

What games did you like? What foods were your favorites? How did you like your parents to treat you? How did you react to new things? Responding to all of those questions and many others will help you enter into the world of children and be able to establish a happy relationship with them.

Give them all of your affection

When it comes time to educate children in happiness, it is important for you to give them all of your affection. In this regard, you must not leave any ink in the well. Give it your all.

However, we must never confuse giving affection with giving children everything that they want. Our young ones need routines and limits. They have to know what is right and what is not so that they can internalize values and feel safe, thereby forming their personality.

That said, children who receive anything they want, be this material or sentimental, run the very real risk of becoming future tyrants, incapable of understanding themselves, frustrated, and facing serious problems with autonomy and building relationships with those around them.

Dedicate time to them

Educating children in happiness requires a lot of time and patience. At the beginning, their closest family members are their whole world, the place where they feel safe, which is why you must always be there for them.

As your children move forward, you will have to play with them, enjoy their lessons, give them affection and protection, and give yourself to them completely. Your time and patience are of great value to them, for you are the mirror in which they see themselves and of what they really want to be.

However, this point must not be seen as an obligation. Educating chilren in happiness will also be fulfilling for you, will make you feel more complete, and it will be very natural for you to always want to be by their side. Never forget this, ever.

Images courtesy of Pascal Campion