Building character in children is very important and crucial to support at a young age. That means talking about it, modeling it as adults, and reading about it.
What does building character mean? It means becoming more independent, becoming stronger, strengthening and improving ones mental and moral qualities of an individual.
This week we are going to focus on building the trait of trust. Trust is defined as to have confidence, faith or hope in someone or something.
If you want to teach your children about trust you have to teach them about what it's like to be able to trust someone and what a trusting relationship looks like. As parents give your children a way to see a relationship that is built on trust and to let them know that they can trust you. This is an example of modeling and allows them to engage in a trusting relationship that future relationships can be built on.
Here are some other examples of how to support the trait of trust.
Give Your Kids a Good Role Model
The relationships that you model around your children should be ones that put trust first.
Openly Talk about Trust
If trust is important to you, talk about it to your children regularly. When they are acting in a responsible manner, tell them what you see, and how proud you are of them. When you see them doing something untrustworthy, have a conversation with them about it, focus on the importance Of trust and what they can do next time.
Communicate and Be Honest to Instill Trust
The ultimate lesson of trust in a relationship is instilling trust in the mother-child relationship. Keep communication open between you and your kids and allow them to ask questions and get honest answers. Be honest, whenever possible in order to build trust in your kids. As you continue to be honest with your children it gives them the opportunity to grow in honesty and trust in their relationship with you.
Encourage Friendships That Involve Trust
Teach children about trust in a relationship, talk to your kids about the trust needed in friendships. Encourage them to be trustworthy friends and to choose trustworthy friends. By Emphasizing trust and being an honest person, you can model how important it is to be honest to friends and to expect honesty in return.
These are conversations that will continue through years and years with your children, you want to continue to talk to them about honesty and trust so they are continuously reminded how important the foundation of a relationship is, and what is is built on.
Here is a social story to start the conversation of trust.