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When you look at the first couple of years of a child’s life, moms and dads often have very different experiences.
For moms, this tends to be an extremely hands-on period. Biologically and relationally, moms fill an important role that dads can’t take on right away. For dads, even those who are physically present and eager to help, this period can be less involved. You’re sometimes left wondering what to do and how to step in.
For many fathers, especially those married to independent women who want to take care of everything themselves, there’s an inclination to wait until the child is older to fully step into their lives. However, if there’s one thing experience shows, it’s that you can’t wait until adolescence to build a relationship with your child. By that time, it’s too late.
You need to start building a relationship with your child during the toddler years, if not sooner. If you sow the right seeds now, you’ll reap a healthy harvest for years to come.
3 Tips for Building a Relationship With Your Toddler
Not sure what constitutes relationship-building or meaningful interaction with a child? Let’s take a look at a few tips and suggestions:
Involve Your Toddler in Activities You Enjoy
As toddlers, children just want to be with their parents. They aren’t old enough to have interests and hobbies – which means you should simply involve them in your activities.
“My husband loves art museums, and he especially loves sharing the experience with our son,” Rachel Sales writes for Smilebox, a service that helps people creating greeting cards, invitations, and more. “He carries our son to different art pieces and tells him why they’re special, pointing out the different colors and textures.”
Whether it’s art, baseball games, or working in the yard, involving your toddler in your favorite activities will prove fruitful, both now and in the future.
Pick Your Battles
Disciplining a toddler is one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. They’re stubborn, don’t like to listen, and often don’t comprehend what you’re saying. It’s challenging to know when you’re being too harsh and when you’re being too lenient. The key is to give them control over small things that don’t matter, while enforcing discipline with the issues that do.
You need to stand your ground when it comes to making her sit in her car seat or get her shots, but it’s better in the long run to give in when she chooses those plaid leggings with the flowered top (even if it does drive you crazy).
Turn Off Technology
Do you ever wish you could spend more meaningful time with your toddler, but feel as if your schedule is simply too busy? There’s a good chance you’re deceiving yourself.
Spend a week tracking all of the time you spend with technology (outside of work). This includes watching Netflix, playing games on your phone, reading email, and checking social media. If you were to pull the plug on all of these activities, you’d likely discover that you have more time than you think to get on the floor and play with your toddler.
Be the Dad Your Child Needs
According to Dad.info, there are several studies that show the quality and quantity of father-baby interactions have a direct impact on how secure children feel as they age. Furthermore, research shows that toddlers and young children are more likely to be sociable when starting school if they’ve had healthy interactions with their dads.
In other words, just because your child can’t carry on a conversation with you, doesn’t mean your interactions aren’t meaningful. Step in and start building a relationship now, or you could spend years trying to make up for lost time.
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