The Huddle Wisdom Blog: For Parents of Anxious & Sensitive Kids
Expert guidance and real-world reflections from a child psychiatrist who’s also a parent.
Finding the Right Balance: Encouraging Kids to Push Themselves
 As parents, we often find it difficult to determine the appropriate amount of pressure to place on our children when we believe it will benefit them. If you're met with resistance, consider the following before deciding how much pressure to apply:
- Check your motivations - While it's great to witness your child experience the satisfaction of accomplishment, are you pushing them for selfish reasons?
- Assess their temperament, interests, and stage of development in relation to the activity. Understanding your child's personality and learning style is crucial to determining how much encouragement they can manage.
- Evaluate their skill set. Do they possess the necessary abilities to handle the challenges of the task at hand? Perhaps they need additional support to develop specific skills that will increase their enjoyment of the activity.
When you're ready to push your child, apply gentle pressure, much like when teaching them how to ride a bike.
We hope this advice is helpful...
