Howdy fellow moms and dads, today I wanted to share with you 5 ways to celebrate your child’s accomplishments. No matter how old your child is, he/she wants to be celebrated by their parents. I’m almost 35, and every time something exciting happens in my life I can’t wait to share it with my parents, (most of the time they don’t even understand what I’m talking about but nevertheless it’s a celebration).
My kids are 11 years, 7 years & 19 months as I write this post, so needless to say the age and type of accomplishments plays a big part here as well. We don’t want to be celebrating accomplishments every 5 minutes, do we? However, I’m a strong believer that these little acts on a parent’s part help our kids with self-esteem and confidence to try even if they fall down or get disappointed.
So what constitutes as an accomplishment? That fellow moms and dads are up to you, in our house; a good report card or leveling up in an extracurricular activity like sports or music for the older kids, a good visit at the dentist office, or getting over a fear of trying something new. For the baby, well let’s just say climbing up and coming back down the stairs of our home is accomplishment enough 🙂 The focus should always be about your child and the effort they put in because it will be the reason for their attitude when trying something again in the future.
1. Clap Your Hands & Say Yeah!!!
I know this may sound silly, but my husband and I have always done this from day one with our kids. The first time the babies crawl down the stairs themselves, to reading their first book without any help we’ve done the big clap and woo hoo response. It’s a little thing to us as parents and grandparents, but for the kids it’s enormous!
2. Stickers & Treats
Stickers are one of my favorite ways to celebrate the kids visit to the Dr. office or dentist, it’s scary for them, and a little reward for being brave can’t hurt in my opinion especially when it’s that time for vaccinations 🙁 Most Dr. offices will even have these and I appreciate that. My kid’s dentist also let them pick out what color toothbrush and what flavor toothpaste and even lets them pick out a toy after their cleanings. This means when it’s time to go to the dentist I’m not doing a lot of convincing and my children, in turn, do a better job taking care of their mouths too.
3. Awards | Cards
DIY Awards and printables are super cool, free and easy. I create or Google most times a cute little award to give my children when they accomplish something big. I like to be crafty and love to see the look on their faces when they open it. These paper treats aren’t always coming from me, though sometimes the tooth fairy or Santa will come by the house 😉 You can put these up on the fridge, frame them or put them in your child’s album or scrapbooks as a keepsake.
4. Have A Fun Day
Treat them to a day out, go to the park or lunch to celebrate their accomplishment. My daughter had a goal to read a certain amount of books this past spring break, and she met and exceeded her goal without any help from me or her dad. In return, I took her to Byerly’s & Lunds, and she got to pick a nice dessert as a reward. It doesn’t have to be extravagant, trust me kids just want to spend quality time with you. Before you know it, they will be grown up and have their own lives.
5. Tell Them How Proud You Are
This one is a no-brainer for my older kids, if you don’t do any of the above make sure you do this one. I often think it but to say it to the kids really makes them feel like they matter and they are doing it right. If you have children vs. one child, it’s especially important. I often spend most of my hours each day taking care of the youngest, and it’s easy to let the everyday stuff go but when my kids do something amazing I go all out to make sure they know how proud I am of them.
Now I’m no child psychologist and definitely not a perfect parent, so the following ways are what we do in our home and merely a suggestion. Every parent is different and parents their child differently, how do you celebrate your child’s accomplishments?
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