Simple Ways To Meet Emotional Needs Of Children

By Author: Mark Arens
Total Articles: 27
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The role of the parent is the role of a provider. Parents of young children especially are needed to meet the basic needs of the child. They must put food on the table, create a safe and welcoming home and make sure that the child has the tools he or she needs to make it through each day. But if parents only work to meet the physical needs of their children, they will miss a key area of their child's development - his or her emotional needs.

Just as God cares about the desires of our hearts and our emotional well-being, parents should also tend to their children's emotional needs. Children are just starting to learn about feelings, love and who they are, so parents need to be there for them in their emotional development. These can be difficult times when raising a child, but parents can be a positive role model in this growing process. God may nourish our bodies by providing us with the skills we need to have three meals a day or to live in a safe neighborhood, but He also meets us in a much deeper way at the core of our being in our hearts. Parents should mimic that relationship by meeting their child's need ...
... for pure, unconditional love.

When parents meet their children's emotional needs, they build self confidence and self worth in their kids. This is the base for positive youth development. Kids need to know that they are loved unconditionally, and that they are valued and respected. Parents can help build self confidence and self worth by using positive and encouraging words on a daily basis. Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of a situation or an issue, parents can concentrate on what the child did well and offer positive, yet constructive criticism if necessary. When positively reaffirmed by a parent, children will have the confidence to meet the challenges they encounter everyday because they know someone believes in them and loves them unconditionally.

The emotional needs of a child may seem complex, but parents already know what children need - unconditional love. Unconditional love centers on loving each child as a unique individual equipped with personal characteristics, skills and qualities that make him or her inherently special. We are all made in God's image, and what kids need most is for their parents to reaffirm the love that God shows us by meeting their emotional needs.
Mark Arens, owner of ThumbPeople, Inc. & author of Thumbuddy Books & products, shares his heart on the importance of spending time together as a family. ThumbPeople provides traditional children's products and books that help build and fortify strong relationships within the family. Building self worth and self respect within our children is vital. Visit ThumbPeople for more -->> http://www.thumbuddyspecial.com