The Importance of Emotional Bonding
Establishing physical and emotional bonds between you and your child is an integral part of parenting. It instills compassion, warmth and affection in your child. When you show your love to your child through hugs, kisses and cuddles while growing up, they become more stable emotionally and even mentally – increasing their confidence and self-respect in themselves. All kids benefit from emotional bonding, and all the more for kids with ADHD.
When parents have a strong connection with their children, children are more inclined to obey them because they do not want to hurt their parents. Actually, it is one of the most effective tools that can alter a child’s inappropriate behavior. For children with ADHD, this is very helpful for parents because they usually have behavioral patterns that are more difficult to pacify compared to normally developed kids. Creating bonds and wonderful memories greatly affects their growing-up years. Some benefits of a healthy parent-child relationship are:
- Children are more open to talk about how they feel
- They grow to be more assertive
- Parents are able to observe their children and determine their strengths and weaknesses.
- Creates constructive emotional development
How To Create Memories and Strengthen Emotional Bonds
With an ADHD child, parents should remember that they are more inattentive and easily distracted. They may also have bouts of tantrums and uncontrollable behavioral patterns. Activities that you do with your children must be enjoyable and interesting and provide healthy learning experiences for them.
- Make study fun for your child. ADHD children are easily distracted, so it would be useful to use colorful objects to help them learn. For example, you can work with them on describing shapes and colors and tell them stories that will make the study session more interesting.
- Let them join you with your exercise routines. Walking is a simple regimen that your child can benefit from. It encourages them to be healthy and to control their movements. It is also good for them since they use up their energy in a healthy way, and they become less active at the end of the day and, therefore, are able to sleep better. Other outdoor activities for older kids are hiking and bicycling. “Think of exercise as medication,” says John Ratey, M.D. “For a very small handful of people with attention deficit disorder, it may actually be a replacement for stimulants, but, for most, it’s complementary — something they should absolutely do, along with taking meds, to help increase attention and improve mood.”
- Listen to music together. Music is utilized in many therapies because it calms and it helps people clear their minds. Oliver Sacks, M.D. notes, “Nothing activates the brain so extensively as music.” It does this also with ADHD children, training their brains to relax and concentrate on feeling good. They are also encouraged to join a choir or a band to practice their team skills.
- Play board games with the whole family. Bingo is the easiest, as children with ADHD have difficulty recalling letters and numbers. Bingo has always been fun to play with the family, and this fosters closeness and togetherness within each family member. For the ADHD child, he feels great when he wins, boosting his self-esteem and inspiring him to do better.
Final Thoughts
Parents should give time to help their ADHD children cope with the daily challenges they face. “Rituals and time spent nurturing and developing the relationship are more important than the management and redirection that often dominates how we notice the child in time and space,” John C. Panepinto, PsyD, LPCS, NCC wrote. It may be an exhausting task for some, but if you make it an enjoyable and beautiful experience for both of you, then you will find that parenting ADHD kids are just as fulfilling as raising any other kid.
If you’re struggling with finding ways to foster a strong relationship with your ADHD child, talking to a therapist online or in your area may be a good choice for you.