Are you helping your child too much?
I have witnessed parents who respond to every whim of their child.
And in my observation, these parents, without their own awareness, are constantly preventing their children from figuring out things for themselves.
If you give your child a toy, right in front of them, all your child has to do is to raise their hand and it’s theirs. Now, if you put the same toy just slightly out of reach, your child will need to move or do some series of actions to get the toy.
This is a very simple strategy, but immensely helpful in supporting your child with developing their physical abilities and motor planning skills.
For example, in order to reach for a toy, a child in the lying position could learn to roll over; whereas a child in sitting could learn to shift weight on their buttocks as well as support themselves with their arms. Children who already know to stand could learn to shift weight between their legs and take their first step!
It all sounds so simple, isn’t it?
But simple things are not always simple. It takes great awareness to be able to see opportunities like this and use them. Now that is not a simple task!
As a parent, when you slow down and observe your daily interactions with your children, you are allowing the ‘space’ for you to choose what could be a more beneficial action other than what would be your ‘default’ response.
The more that you come to the realization that you might have been acting on ‘automatic’, the closer you are to choosing a different action that can be more supportive of your child’s progress!
