It’s nice sharing time together and Christmas and during the summer holidays because we have so much time to show our loved ones how we feel. But what about the rest of the year? What simple things can we do to show our appreciation outside of the holiday season while we’re busy getting on with our lives? Take a look at some of these ideas.
Public Praise
If you catch your children or your partner doing something good, don’t just ignore it: give them public praise. Public praise can help build bonds, develop trust and help with low self-esteem. It also gives you an opportunity to tell your loved ones that you recognize their virtue, an essential element in any healthy, functional relationship.
Don’t Compare Your Kids To Others
Your kids are individuals and, as such, they will be different to their peers and your friends’ children. They will have their own strengths and weaknesses, but this is a regular part of the development process.
Comparing your child to one that is better than them (or worse) at something is a bad idea. Instead, get them to focus on what they can do and practice getting better. Ask them if they are proud of what they have achieved by themselves.
Write Whimsical Notes
Everybody loves getting little notes written on personalized stationery, especially when it is to convey your appreciation. Send your spouse and your children notes in the post, or leave them lying around the house where they are likely to find them.
Take Care Of Yourself
Many parents think that their relationship with their children is the most important relationship from their kids’ perspective. But it turns out that kids are far more concerned with the relationship between their parents than they are with the parents’ individual relationships with them. As a result, one of the best ways parents can show their appreciation to their kids is to focus on their own relationship, building it up and making it stronger if necessary.
The more you look after yourself and your own relationship, the more available you’ll be to everybody else in the family. Not having to worry about arguing with your spouse opens up all sorts of new opportunities and frees up your time.
Let The Kids Decide Where To Eat
If your family regularly goes out for meals, let the kids decide where they want to eat one night a week. Sure, you might end up at the local fast food joint, but who doesn’t enjoy an all-American cheeseburger every once in awhile?
Surprise Loved Ones With Their Favorite Meal
Another way to show your appreciation is to do some surprise cooking. Cooking a slap up meal isn’t easy: it takes a lot of time and effort. But once everybody is gathered around the table, munching away, it’s worth it.
Always Admit When You’re Wrong
Admitting you were wrong about something is difficult. But over the long term. It can gain you enormous respect with family members. If you made a mistake, own up to it: this way, your kids won’t learn that “might is right.”