Title: 4 Tips to Setting Realistic Expectations for Your Child | The Confident Mom
Headings: 
Blog
4 Tips to Setting Realistic Expectations for Your Child
Here are a few things to consider when setting those high expectations for your child.
Your child is an individual.
Each child is unique.
Don’t set your expectations based on yourself.
Be clear and consistent.
Erase the all-or-nothing attitude.
Share To

Content: So many misunderstandings occur everyday simply because we do not communicate well. I not only find this in my relationship with my kids, but it certainly comes into play with my husband. Erase the all-or-nothing attitude. While it is important to set high expectations for your child, be sure to let him know that falling a little short of them doesn’t mean he is a failure. When you reach for high standards, you still make great progress, even if you don’t exactly hit the mark. We can easily fall into a pattern of perfection if we do not learn to appreciate and applaud the journey to make progress. The work that took place while reaching for those standards is valuable in itself. Praise your child for the effort and the accomplishments reached along the way, being specific with characteristics that you see along the way rather than general praise, like a “good job”. Instead recognize when they’ve taken extra time to complete a task with skill or used problem solving skills to fix their own mistake. Parents who set high expectations, communicate those expectations clearly, and encourage their children to reach for them along the way do a great service for their children.