From the moment you find out that you’re expecting, the chances are that you’ll spend a great deal of time wondering what traits your kids are going to inherit from you or your partner. Be it your freckles, his green eyes, or just both of your loving natures, seeing these similarities emerge is certainly one of the best joys of parenting. But, as many parents find out the hard way, less positive inherited behaviors can also be an extreme cause for stress. Modern habits, especially, have seen many youngsters picking up on less favorable lessons. Here, we consider how you can avoid the same happening in your household.
Behavior 1: Poor health habits
While we all know that we should look after our health, increasingly busy lifestyles mean that many of us never get around to it. As well as leaving us either personally unfit through a lack of workouts, or having to research tooth extraction cost after another missed dental appointment this sends a clear message to our kids that they, too, can cut health-based corners. That’s obviously bad news and is something that all parents should overcome by pursuing these health focuses directly alongside their kids with joint exercise (or just fun active games), family dental visits, and beyond.
Behavior 2 – Excessive screen time
Most of us will naturally take steps to limit the amount of time our kids spend on their phones/iPads/watching television. The trouble is that far fewer of us think about how our own screen time is reflecting on those young minds. Parents who spend as much as two hours and 17 minutes of personal time on their phones (compared with just two hours and 41 minutes with their kids) could certainly be sending the wrong message about positive device-based habits. Despite your efforts to cut your kid’s screen time, reaching for your phone whenever you have a spare minute is certainly more likely to see them doing the same thing in the future unless you make a specific effort to at least put the phone away until the kids are comfortably tucked up in bed.
Behavior 3 – A lack of self-care
While self-care is something of a buzzword these days, it’s surprising how many parents neglect it and inadvertently teach their kids to do the same. In some respects, this also ties in with the health point, but failing to engage in hobbies, pamper sessions, and other things that help you to recalibrate can all have a knock-on effect on how likely your kids are to engage in these behaviors in the future. Given that self-care is so popular because of undeniable mental health benefits among other plus points, it’s important to overcome this negative inheritance by instead making sure to take time for yourself, and teach your kids that it’s okay for them to do the same!
We all want our children to inherit our positive traits. Make sure that’s the case by taking proactive steps to avoid these less positive learned behaviors!