Children are wonderful little creatures. They really are. One day they’re yodeling your name when you’re giving them a birthday present and the next they’re just screeching to get a toy or not sleep early. We can’t change that, but we can help pave their resilience.
Resilience will make them bounce back from any stressful situation, trauma or even challenges. I’m saying this with the utmost facetiousness. Great news though. This can be nurtured, cultivated to harvest strong individuals.
You need to set good unbreakable bonds with them. That doesn’t mean you’ll have to compromise their independence. Good determination, positive reliability will lead to building adversity in children.
Get them expose to people who matter to them the most. Tell me about who’s there looking out for them and why they’re there for. People sometimes take things for granted, that should be highlighted in order for that not to happen.
Asking for a lending hand is not a shame. It’s not a bad thing for someone to ask for help when they feel like they’re dealing with a lot of things. It’s strong to have your thing sorted by yourself but it is stronger to ask for help before things erupt.
Help them set their management skills in order. Good routines, interpersonal skills, things that will make them feel stronger to develop and cope with strategies in life.
Competency is an asset. Bravery comes in at mysterious ways. Building a full-fledged competency framework to react to change is another way of handling different unanticipated scenarios not during class only but throughout their lives.
Harvest optimism in them. Its one of the key characters of optimistic people. You can model the brain to experience more optimism once they get exposed to good things that happen. Getting an A+ or an accolade by teachers will get the job done on the right path.
Risk is good, when they’re safe. Age appropriate risks (like not copying the homework from a friend and doing it by themselves) will encourage them to act accordingly in the very sensible manner.
Let them say what they have to say. Instead of stepping in to solve things they screwed up, let them try to solve it on their own first. It’s a coping mechanism they need to toughen up. Better now than never.
All of this is good and dandy but the reality of the truth is a little bit harsh. It will take an arm and a leg to make them do the things you expect them to do. Why? Well frankly speaking you have a better chance cultivating their mindset at a very young age to be stronger and more resilient for when they get older.
