Your Child Reflects Your Comments

How many occasions have you stated conclusive comments about your children, something similar below:

She eats only very little unless I feed and never eat adequately without supervision.

This guy only interested in playing games and pay very little attention to studies.

My daughter is an introvert and trying to avoid social interaction whenever possible.

Mathematics seems so hard for him.

So many parents make such casual remarks about their children in front of their relatives and friends. At first glance, those looks normal, but after reading the remaining article, you probably think twice before commenting about children.

Although such statements have no relationship with your actual expectations, hidden dangers in it can cause irreversible damages in a child’s behavior as you’ll eventually see your child adjusting themselves with those perceptions. 

In the future, they might start eating like a bird, show little interest in studies, blatantly reject the invitation to accompany you for visiting a friend’s house, and always scratch their head before mathematics books.

Do any parents ever want that to happen to their children? The answer, for sure, will be a No.

Effect of repeated affirmations

Humans have a natural tendency to believe in repeated declarations.

Brand marketing exploit this human nature to build customer confidence in the brand-name through repeated Ads. And of course, they succeed.

Among us, children are the most vulnerable to this natural tendency. Everything, especially topics related to them, catch their immediate attention and stores permanently as if plain-white-paper retains whatever information write on it. 

The situation slips out control when the children accept your assessments as facts rather than trying to challenge or rectify them. As a parent, you don’t have many options to bring them back to the right path as they start believing in what you have portrayed.

The same weapon, but use differently

However, your carefully crafted opinions about children can create a positive self-image as well. Because repetition instills belief.

To simplify things, let’s imagine that you dreamed of having a daughter who reads books. At the same time, you observe continuous disinterest even when you showered her with books.

This time adopt a different strategy; inspired by brand marketing.

Create an impression that you love: Try to portray her to the outside world, repeatedly, as someone who loves reading.

Don’t trivialize small achievements, signify instead: Even if your child read just a comic book, praise her during a casual chat with family and friends. But don’t overuse it, which will only pressurize your child to pretend to have something that they do not possess.

No negative affirmative statements: Avoid making affirmative statements about her disinterest in reading, neither privately nor publicly. In her presence, never make any negative comments about reading habits.

Keep it moderate: Don’t allow your praises substandard to a flatter.

Such a simple yet powerful idea can bring many positive impacts on your relationship with children. Put yourself in marketing manager’s shoe, replicate the excellent marketing strategy – repeat affirmation instill belief – to change the mindset of your child in favor of your dreams. 

Properly planning your ‘marketing strategies’ and little patience are the keys.