I think all parents can occasionally be guilty of putting negative ideas and projecting negative thoughts into their children’s heads. They have their own values and beliefs and not all of them are good or positive! For example, I can’t sleep in the light so when we arrive at a hotel with see-through curtains, I’ll often say, “I am never going to be able to sleep in here” or “my son won’t be able to get to sleep in this room.” Why do I say it? I don’t really know but I probably shouldn’t say it as it is putting the idea into my sons head that he also needs to sleep in complete darkness. I am guilty of this and I hope that I don’t do it often. The same goes for our thoughts about anything and why we don’t like something. We need to be more neutral so they don’t take on our thoughts and copy them.
Projecting Negative Thoughts Can Be Detrimental
Children listen and take in everything their parents say, so we need to be careful of these types of thoughts. Positive thoughts – yes. Negative thoughts – no. We can think negative thoughts but should not say them out loud. Children will get it into their head that they don’t like something because we don’t like that thing or they may not like someone because we have shared our negative thoughts about that person. If parents are scared of heights or scared of trying something new, our children may think they can’t do it because their parent has said they can’t or they worry that it will be scary too for them. We don’t want our fears and limitations being passed to our children. Instead we want them to try things out for themselves and make their own judgement.
Parents should try to be more mindful when projecting negative thoughts. Let’s try and be positive in our actions and say positive things. Let’s share our positive beliefs so our children will take on that positive vibe. For more on negative thoughts and parenting check out this blog.
For help with encouraging positivity in our children check out the ‘WOW’ Board. It’s an excellent tool.
