As parents, it is your responsibility to raise children who have emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is actually not as complex as you might think that it is.
In simple terms, Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and manage one’s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. It means you are making emotions work for you, instead of against you. The ability to understand and manage emotions greatly increases our chances of success in parenting.
Benefits of Emotional Intelligence
Studies have shown emotional intelligence provides a variety of benefits for children. Children with higher levels of emotional intelligence perform better in school. They also tend to have higher grades. Furthermore, emotional intelligence skills help children to have better relationships, manage conflict and develop deeper friendships. Also, children with higher levels of emotional intelligence are less likely to experience depression or other forms of mental illness, as a result, of the ability to control their thoughts.
How to Raise Children With Emotional Intelligence
Recognize emotions
As parents, you could get so busy that you do not pay attention to how your children feel. “Not misbehaving does not mean “not upset.” Often times children do not even understand how they are feeling talk and so can find it difficult to express it.
Over the years kids grow up emotionally distant from their parent. You can help your children by putting a name to their emotions—at least the emotion you suspect your child is feeling. If your child is upset because he lost a game, you can say, “It looks like you feel really angry right now. Is that right?” If he looks sad, you might say, “Are you feeling disappointed that we aren’t going to visit Grandma and Grandpa today?”
Emotional words such as “angry,” “upset,” “shy” and “painful” can all build a vocabulary to express feelings. Don’t forget to share the words for positive emotions, too, such as “joy,” “excited,” “thrilled” and “hopeful.”
Shielding your children from emotional intelligence and then sending them into the world; is like sending an athlete to the Olympics with no training. Recognize their feelings now, help them to express themselves the right way and avoid crisis later.
Listen and show empathy
Listening to children express emotion is you validating their feelings. Children need to feel you really understand them and that you are on their side. When your child is upset, it can be tempting to dismiss how he or she is feeling. It might seem okay to do that since there are other things to attend to. But dismissive comments will teach your child that the way he or she is feeling is wrong or unimportant.
A better approach is to validate their feelings and show empathy, even if you don’t understand why they are so upset. If your child is crying because you told her she cannot go to the park until she cleans her room, say something like, “I feel upset when I don’t get to do what I want too. It’s hard sometimes to keep working when I don’t want to.”
When your child sees that you understand how she’s feeling on the inside, she will feel less compelled to show you how she’s feeling through her behaviour or throwing a tantrum. So rather than scream and cry to show you she’s angry, she’ll feel better when you’ve made it clear that you already understand she’s upset She will understand that feelings are feeling and that there are consequences for every action.
Model appropriate ways to express feelings
Children need to know how to express their emotions in a socially appropriate way. So while saying, “My feelings are hurt,” or drawing a picture of a sad face could be helpful, screaming and throwing things are not okay.
The best way to teach your child how to express feelings is by modelling these skills yourself. Express emotions. Use feeling words in your everyday conversation and practice talking about them.
So make it a habit to clearly focus on building your skills so you can be an effective role model for your child.
Studies show emotionally intelligent parents are more likely to have emotionally intelligent children Click To TweetTeach healthy coping and problem-solving skills
Once children understand their emotions, they need to learn how to deal with those emotions in a healthy way. Knowing how to calm themselves down, cheer themselves up, or face their fears can be complicated for little ones.
Teach specific skills. For example, your child may benefit from learning how to take a few deep breaths when she’s angry to calm down. A child-friendly way to teach anger management involves telling her to take “bubble breaths”. This means that you breathe in through your nose and blow out through your mouth as if blowing through a bubble wand.
Help your children develop ways they can solve problems by themselves. When your child makes mistakes, talk about it in a calm way. Let them know what could have been done differently and what they can do to resolve any issues. Be that person who corrects in love.
How To Raise Children With Emotional Intelligence Click To TweetMake emotional intelligence an ongoing goal
No matter how emotionally intelligent your child seems, there is always room for improvement. And there are likely to be some ups and downs throughout childhood and adolescence. As he grows older, he’s likely to face obstacles that will challenge his skills. So make it a goal to incorporate skill-building into your everyday life. When your child is young, talk about feelings every day.
Talk about the emotions characters in books or in movies might be feeling. Discuss better ways problems might have been solved or strategies characters could use to treat others with respect. As your child grows older, talk about real-life situations. This could be things he or she is encountering, or it could be a problem you are reading about in the news. Make it an ongoing conversation.
As parents, you should use your child’s mistakes as opportunities to grow. When he acts out because he’s angry or he hurts someone’s feelings, take time to talk about how he can do better in the future. With your ongoing support and guidance, your child can develop the emotional intelligence and mental strength he or she will need to succeed in life.
Click here to read: [Parenting Tips- How To Deal With Children Who Misbehave]
