Don’t just survive, thrive this holiday
Usha Maharaj shares her holiday plans
SCHOOL holidays are an exciting and anticipated time for your child, but can be stressful and challenging for you because, while juggling all your commitments, you have to figure out a way to keep your child engaged, active and happy all day, every day for weeks in a row.
The good news is that school breaks can be about thriving more than about surviving. Rather than trying to figure out how to keep your angel entertained, perhaps they could do it by themselves.
And what if your child could learn how to actively engage in a variety of activities that don’t include a tech device and be happy with their choices?
When we talk about surviving, we are talking about you, the parent; but when we think about thriving, we are all about seeing your child be the biggest winner, and school breaks are a great place to start.
Enter Nomoboki, the mascot of No More Bored Kids, a company whose mission it is to empower busy parents to help their kids to be the best versions of themselves.
Define Thrive
This word will hold a different meaning for you than it does for the next parent but even more than that, it will hold a different meaning for each child. Reflect on what it would mean for your child to thrive over the break. Will they learn new skills, spend more time outdoors, improve a specific subject knowledge, spend less time with technology or become more independent or get along better with their sibling? Start with a clear picture of what you are hoping to achieve by defining your thrive.
Select a theme
A theme can be used in conversation as a reminder of the expectations for the school break, as a way to participate and take action, to encourage discussion and to inspire desired behaviours.
Work for your WIFM
What’s in it for me is the obvious thought running through your child’s mind when you ask them to start something that sounds like work. So think about the rewards they could earn by demonstrating the theme and completing activities. Be clear on how actions will be converted into rewards. The WIFM is what will inspire your child to take action.
Establish the structure
Lack of structure is often a key reason for failure. Make it easy for your child to take the actions by creating a framework within which they can track their performance, monitor their results and earn their rewards.
Provide the resources
Ensure your child has access to the resources to complete their activities. As part of your daily reflections, discuss the activities they plan to undertake the next day as well as how/ where they can access the resources to complete them. Lack of certain resources is a great opportunity to have them brainstorm and find creative ways to complete their tasks.
Daily reflections
Spend a few quality minutes together at the end of each day. Discuss the activities completed by your child. Ask them questions to get them talking about their experiences, likes and dislikes. Take the opportunity to praise effort made.
Be present
Even the best plan will fail without you. You are the key to how your child will thrive over this break. When it is time for your daily reflections or to complete an activity with your child, show them how important this process is and how important they are by disconnecting from everything else. Switch everything off and commit to being present when you are with your child.
Stay the course
Nothing worth achieving is quick and easy. You have an opportunity to develop and grow your child in ways that will serve them for ever, and while there will be days that are frustrating, stay the course. Find support wherever you can, be it in social media groups of like-minded parents, sharing the load with your spouse or partner.
Celebrate and reward success
Get excited with your child, they are learning how to work for rewards, they are developing new skills, they are embedding new behaviours and they deserve to celebrate. This is not about congratulating your child for doing what is expected, but about celebrating new habits, consistent action, positive attitude and focusing on the skills and behaviours they are developing.
Set the context
And finally, if your little person is accustomed to a holiday break of survival, then shifting gears into a space of thriving is going to take convincing. Once you have figured out how to implement the above tips, then it’s time to sit down and set the context with your child. This discussion should paint a clear picture of what a thriving break will look and feel like. Cover all the points, listen to your child and work together to co-create the way forward.
Nomoboki’s Top Ten Tips are derived from a scientific, brain-based model used by the Founder of No More Bored Kids, Usha Maharaj CA (SA), in coaching her clients for success and is a superb process for developing your child.
If you find yourself thinking “ideas are easy, implementation is hard”, don’t stress, you are not alone. These tips provide theory, but the practice is not as simple. It requires time, thought and effort to develop a plan that is likely to succeed. And the reality is, you are already struggling to cope with the demands on your limited time.
If this is your story, then this is for you. No More Bored Kids has developed a life-changing toolkit which you can access immediately as an online download from its website. The Nomoboki Holiday Goal Tracker is a must-have resource in the parental school holiday survival toolkit. It is a system for 7- to 12-year-olds that encourages children to get involved in a wide array of activities while teaching them how to set goals and earn rewards. The structure and how-to-guides are all provided and all that’s required is for you to implement and enjoy. Find out more at www.nomoboki.com.
Maharaj is a crazy-ambitious mum who enjoyed a super-quick climb up the corporate ladder to director in a global business and now finds herself immersed in the roller-coaster world of entrepreneurship. She is a success strategist, brain-based coach, HR strategy consultant and now founder of No More Bored Kids, a platform to help parents who are struggling to find balance.