Raising Emotionally Intelligent Kids

A mum always wants the best for her kids. Working hard to raise strong individuals, she hopes they’ll go on to lead happy lives and have a good moral standing. Sometimes,however, it can get difficult, and us mums start to question our choices –also hoping that the decisions we make will lead to the results we’re seeking.

Research has shown that emotional awareness will not only affect, but determine how happy and successful our children will be throughout their lives. More important than IQ, it can help kids grow into more confident, intelligent and well-rounded adults.

“Empathy enables us to connect with other people, which ultimately makes us happier. The link between social support and happiness was most clearly demonstrated in the Harvard Study of Adult Development. This ground-breaking study tracked people for over 75 years and found that relationships were the number one source of happiness,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a Dubai-based Canadian psychologist.

Relationships are dynamic. They involve an exchange between two people. The number one rule to raising emotionally-intelligent kids is to teach them to turn towards you when you require their attention. In a healthy family environment, we expect family members to be responsive whenever we need it, and modelling such behaviour will help your kids apply it in their daily lives too.

For mums, it can be difficult to see how a toddler would have the capacity to be empathetic. However, research has found that even younger children can understand empathy and learn to practice it. Never underestimate your child’s abilities!

“We can encourage our toddlers (and older children) to be more empathetic and kind in a number of ways, by identifying kindness and empathy as family values, talking to our children about the importance of kindness and empathy, and much more,” she adds. “We also need to correct our children when they behave in ways that are unkind or not empathetic.”