Helping our children

You are absolutely right. Letting children do things on their own fosters independence, self-sufficiency and self confidence. It is natural to want to help, or to be in a hurry and a little impatient. I do it sometimes. My 22 month old is learning to dress and undress himself and I am tempted to jump in and help when I see him struggling, and I do sometimes. But the times I don't, I see the look of pride on his face when he succeeds, and I know I did the right thing letting him do it on his own. I need to work on giving him more opportunities to do things on his own. Instead of putting his shoes on, I should offer to let him try it first. I don't because sometimes I just want to get it done so we can go, but that is not as important as him learning to do it himself.

Yes, i find it hard. It is our responsibility as a parent to help our child, but of course there is a limitation. There will come a time that our child has to make it on his own and be independent. When he has grown up, we will just be there to guide him. He will be the one to be in control of his own life.

i usually let my kids figure it out themselves. and they are pretty independent for their age. my friend saw it because compared to her kids they were very much more independent. we ordered pizza once and her kids had to have theirs cut up in little pieces and then she had to help them get all set up. my kids are a little bit younger than hers. my daughter sat down, moved her chair in, grabbed a piece of pizza and picked it up and ate it. she also learned to tie her shoes early because i showed her how and let her keep trying it herself.

I always try and let them do it theirselves first but make sure they know im there if they need me, sometimes its hard to stand back and allow them to do it if im in a hurry and know I could have done it in half the time. But as they grow and learn new things I know it will get easier and quicker for them and il have children who happily dress themselves a little bit of patience from me now will be worthwhile in the long run I think

I can relate to your discussion. I have a four year old son. He is pretty independent and wants to do things for himself a lot. Sometimes he seems to require my help when he gets frustrated. I really don't mind. Yes, sometimes when we are in a bit of a hurry, I will pretty much help him more. I think I am just going to keep trying to let him do things and figure out how to do more as he gets a little older. Good luck to you!