Being a child - what does that mean?

What does that mean to be a child? First and foremost, to follow his own instincts and feelings. Childhood is an important phase in which the mind and body should develop freely and with as little pressure as possible. At the same time, however, rules must be learned and limits accepted.

© jörn buchheim - Fotolia.com

In adults, the inner child is often no longer available. That's why it's often hard for us parents to understand and accept our children as they are. The growing and prospering of the little ones also gives us the opportunity to be a child again. Maybe you can catch up on something we missed in our own childhood.

Being a child means life in the here and now

One of the most fantastic skills of children is the absolute presence in the here and now. You enjoy the moment with all your senses, past and future are unimportant. This gives our little ones maximum moments of happiness, but also great grief. They can not yet grasp that things have changed or been different. We should take this aspect of childhood as late as possible. With the awareness that there is future and past, the attention moves more and more into the head and the sensual experience moves into the background.

For us adults, this ability of the child often demands a lot of time and patience. Our minds are full of schedules, expectations and ideas of how something should be - or not. Take an example from your child and give him the time when thinking and feeling can still flow freely.

Everything is feeling

Small children live exclusively in feeling and let them loud if necessary their course. That too belongs to the child. Crying, screaming and raving rather than logically approaching things. Only in the course of time, children learn self-control and unfortunately often lose the ability to be really emotional.

As a parent, you should take your child's feelings seriously, every single one of them. A key reason why adults often struggle so hard with their own feelings is due to childhood. If you hear as a child, that your own feelings are "wrong", for example, by statements such as "you do not have to be afraid!" Or "That you only imagine!", You gradually lose the confidence in your own perception ,

Children are allowed to make mistakes

If a child is born, it is a largely blank slate. It has to learn almost everything and who learns also makes mistakes. In your opinion, if your child makes many mistakes, that does not mean that he is stupid. On the contrary, it is courageous enough to try things again and again, to try new things and to fail now and then. Loss must also be learned. Defeats are part of childhood and have great growth potential. The saying "you learn from mistakes" is the right one here.

You should always support your child to try something new. If it fails, then not blame, but comfort and encouragement are announced. This gives him the strength and the confidence to try again and again.

To be a child also has to feel limits

Children should be allowed to develop as freely and unrestrictedly as possible and at their own pace. This applies to the body as well as the mind. The less restrictions you impose on your child, the more they can learn about and develop their potential. Of course, there are no limits and you should insist on their compliance with loving consequence. Not only does this teach your child to follow important rules of life, it also gives you a high level of safety: it can move freely within a reliable framework.

With every limit you set for your child, you should consider: Why do I want this limit or rule to be met? An honest examination of this question leads almost automatically to the fact that there are only reasonable limits. It is often helpful here if you try to explain to your child why it should or should not do something. Because in most cases, you want to protect your child and provide him with a safe environment within which it may move carefree, may make mistakes and just - may be a child.