Parenting

Even if you are not a parent quite yet, I want to share some advice that I received when it comes to parenting. I am not yet a parent either, but being a mother is very important to me, and I want to do the best I can when I become one.
Children need contact, love, and belonging. Who better to provide this than their parents? Offer contact freely. As my professor of Family Relations stated, "Contact is like food -- you don't wait until your child passes out to feed them." Withholding contact and love have long-term consequences that parents don't always consider. I don't think I even quite grasp just how vitally important it is for developing children.
Also, children need encouragement as they grow up in order to better avoid destructive behavior. Build on the children's strengths. Show confidence in their abilities. Value your child for who they are. And stimulate their independence. Focus on the needs of the children, and not their behavior. This leads to discouraging actions on the parents' part such as focusing on mistakes, expecting the worst or too little, expecting too much, and being overprotective.
Encouraging your children and giving love and contact freely can have life-long benefits for the children can help improve parent-child relationships.