Positive parenting tips: 4 ways to help strengthen your family's relationship

Lydia Pomeroy

For USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

January is the perfect month to celebrate renewed inspiration and fresh insight. It is also a great time to focus on what is most important to you — your children!

January celebrates Positive Parenting Awareness Month. Positive parenting is an approach to raise children in a way that strengthens family relationships, increases parents’ confidence and promotes children’s healthy development.

Positive parenting and caregiving is one of the most powerful ways to influence a child’s future social and emotional well-being. Healthiest Manitowoc County's Investing Early Coalition would like to share some positive parenting tips you can try with your children this month:

1. Try establishing routines for your family. Children thrive on knowing what is about to come next. Have healthy snacks prepared for children to have when they get home from school. Wash your hands together before dinner while singing a song. Put toys away before brushing teeth. Routines help children become organized and provide stability in their lives.

2. Squeeze in more opportunities to share relaxed time together. Sit-down family dinners are a great place to start! Time that you carve out of busy schedules to spend together allows for open dialogue and lets you in on what is happening in your child’s life.

3. Focus on a child’s journey of success and small milestones. Every child is unique in the way they learn. Celebrate with your children their mini successes, such as reading for 15 minutes after dinner every night for one week. Being proud of hitting micro-goals teaches children patience and persistence.

4. Remember to take care of yourself. Recharge your parenting batteries by taking some time to do things you enjoy and help you to relax. When you take care of yourself, you model healthy behavior for your children, and you will have more energy to be the best parent/guardian possible.

Lydia Pomeroy is Healthiest Manitowoc County's Investing Early co-chairperson.

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