There are certain things for dads to live by to build and maintain a healthy relationship with their kids. Dads are often the ones who don’t give much thought to how they interact with their children, but this can be detrimental to that relationship.
What All Dads Should Know?
Here are some tips on ways that fathers should engage with their kids that will result in both having an enjoyable time together!
Every child loves to take advice from their father, but certain types of advice should be taken with a grain of salt. Avoid being overly judgmental when giving any kind of help or criticism to your children by focusing on the positive things they have done and leaving out any negative elements if at all possible.
Giving Advice
Many male children will come to their father for relationship advice when they’re in distress, so don’t advise your kid that your dad gave you 20 years ago. Rather, if your son’s girlfriend left him and he comes for advice, but you don’t know what to tell him, try searching “how to get your ex-girlfriend back” to give a solid piece of advice that will not further ruin his relationship with that girl. Also, when giving advice, try to avoid long-winded speeches and opt for short and sweet responses instead.
Give Them a Hug
Being nurturing is very important when building relationships with your kids. We all know how an adolescent’s emotions can run wild at times, so they need to know that someone out there loves them unconditionally and will do anything they can to help ease their emotional burdens.
Empower your children by hugging them or cuddling with them if they’re feeling down, but be careful not to cross boundaries of any sort. Fathers should take care of their kids and have a special relationship with them that is going to last forever.
Being Involved in Their Lives
No man likes a dad who’s not interested in anything his kids have going on in their lives. Get involved! Participate in extracurricular activities, encourage good grades, and let your children know when they have done something wrong so that it doesn’t happen again. Dads should try to make an effort to be involved in their kids’ lives, even if they do live far away without them.
Stay up-to-date on your kids’ activities by looking at their Facebook profiles every once and a while or sending them letters/cards through the mail periodically.
Be There For Them
Never let anything come before your children’s well-being, especially not fatherly duties! If you’re working long hours at work all week, always prioritize spending time with your children when you have the chance.
Make time for them so that they know how much you care about each other. When coming home from work or having free time during the day, call or text your kids to let them know that you’re thinking about them. They need to feel like you’re there for them in every way when they’re in trouble before coming to you with anything, just so that your relationship will be built on trust!
Being there for your kids is much more than just spending time with them, it’s being there for them in ways that they may not even realize. And, be sure to set some boundaries without sounding too strict. It’s good to be critical about certain things or hold high expectations of your children because this will help you build a strong relationship with them through constant communication.
Spend Time With Them
Spending time with your kids should be one of the highlights of any dad’s day, and many take it for granted. Make every day a father-son/daughter day by planning activities for you and your child(ren) to do together!
Go out and play catch in the park, go fishing on the weekend, or just go out to eat at their favorite restaurant. There are so many things that fathers can do with their children, there’s no excuse not to get up from behind that desk and spend some quality time with them! Also, make sure to spend some individual time with each child from your family, as they all have their own likes/dislikes and personality traits.
Dads should make a point of getting to know what makes each child tick by spending time with them one-on-one whenever possible! Fathers should try to avoid using gimmicks or cheap tactics when building relationships with their children because these kinds of things are only last temporarily.
Building and maintaining a healthy relationship with your kids takes dedication, hard work, time, effort, attention to detail, and lots of love! Dads are often the ones who don’t give much thought to how they interact with their children.