Does your child suffer from shyness? This is remarkably common, but it can be problematic and stop your child from leading a happy, social and active lifestyle. If this is a journey that you have been through yourself, you will know just how distressing it can be in certain situations as well. So, what can you do as a parent? While shyness is hard to overcome, it is usually something that improves with age but there are also a few things that you can do to help your child overcome shyness so that they can be themselves, make friends and enjoy their life ask any question to be answered.
Try Gradual Exposure Therapy
When it comes to overcoming shyness, you might think that exposing your child to the things that cause shyness and anxiety will be an effective cure. More often than not, this will only make matters worse and can be pretty traumatizing. Instead, you want to adopt a more gradual approach with small steps outside of their comfort zone. This will allow them to gradually develop confidence in certain situations and make progress.
Accept Their Feelings & Communicate
Many parents make the mistake of dismissing the fears and insecurities that their kids have, but this can cause confusion and further alienation. Instead, you should accept that this is how they feel and tell them that many people also feel the same way and this is ok. If you were shy as a child, they should find it helpful to hear this and how you overcome it. Communication is key to overcoming shyness, so you need to make sure that you discuss the issue and work together to find the best solutions.
Avoid Describing Them As Shy
You should also avoid describing them as shy to others. Drawing attention to your child’s shyness is one of the worst things that you can do and will only make matters worse. If others comment on their shyness, you should respond with the positive traits that their shyness brings, such as they are thoughtful, they are a good listener or they like to think before contributing (these are all things that many people should do more of!).
Show They Are Loved With A Birthday Celebration
Often, you will find that shy children are loved by many people, but they do not see this. This can be frustrating and heartbreaking as a parent, which is why you want to use their birthday as a chance to show just how popular they are. Places like Urban Air can plan incredible birthday parties for kids with many fun games, activities and rides for the kids to enjoy. This could also be helpful as there is no direct attention placed on your child throughout the party, but it is still an event for them. Hopefully, this will show them just how much people care about them and improve their self-esteem.
Find People That They Are Comfortable With
Often, you will find that shy children are only shy in certain situations and there will be people that they feel confident around. You want to keep these people around over the years as they can play a major role in overcoming shyness.
These are a few of the best ways to overcome shyness that will hopefully help you and your child to overcome this very common problem.