Raising healthy and confident children is no easy task.  It takes a lot of love, patience and dedication to raise a child that is confident, happy and feels loved. The most important thing that you can give a child in its formative years is praise.  Award small tasks with praise and the self-confidence of your child will grow every day. Why is confidence so important? A confident child will grow up to be a confident adult who can deal with all the challenges that life throws at us.  Don’t expect too much from your child.  Small challenges need to be set that are within easy reach and need to be followed up with praise.

Be a clear communicator.  Set boundaries and rules and be consistent. The time to go to bed, get up, have breakfast and dinner and get dressed should be kept the same.  This will provide your child with a frame in which it knows what happens when and helps to build confidence.  Make sure to talk about what you expect and why you’re expecting it.  Make your child self-sufficient.  Teach your child small household tasks that it can help with and can be proud of.

The diet of your child should be well-balanced and healthy. A good mix of fresh vegetables, fruit, carbohydrates and meat or a vegetarian option should be provided every day.  Make dinner time a moment for the family to get together and give your child(ren) the option to talk about their day.  Listen and respond and teach your child how to listen to others. A great way to do this is to have a chat about what happened in school, what your child did with friends and so on.  If you have more than one child, make sure to have some one on one time with every child during the day.

These are just a few of the tried and tested tips to raise a healthy, physically and emotionally, child.