It’s hard to walk the fine line between giving our kids too much freedom and not enough. This is why it’s important that we begin early to build trust with them.

Two-way street

It’s easier to begin building that trust if we’ve been trustworthy ourselves because, as with everything else, our kids model our behavior.

This means:

• keeping our word to them as much as possible
• keeping their secrets
• keeping promises
• being honest with them in an age-appropriate way
• trusting them

Reluctance to trust

Trusting them might be the most difficult aspect of raising a child. This is because we know all the dangers they can face, and we also know they don’t know how easy it is to make the wrong choices. We know because we’ve been there. We may even have been rascals—or worse—ourselves when we were young.

But in our zeal to protect them from mistakes we made, or that many other young people their age have made, we may forget to offer them the one thing everyone is entitled to: the benefit of the doubt, i.e., trust. Our legal system, in fact, is built on the concept that a person is innocent until proven guilty.

Build up gradually

On the other hand, the very definition of irresponsible parenting is handing them the keys to the car, so to speak, and telling them to have a good time when they haven’t even learned to drive.

So you have to prepare the field early on by laying out ground rules at each stage of their development and seeing how they respond to more and more freedom as they get older.

If you communicate clearly to your teen what your expectations are, and allow them to make a few mistakes, within reason, then you’re well on your way to raising a responsible, trustworthy child.

Family Table Time can help

For more ways to help build trust with your kids, be sure to check out this month’s Family Table Time. One of the topics explored in the April kit is trust; the others are Talent, Earth Day, and Attitude, School & Careers.

Informed Families created these kits to help build stronger, lasting bonds with your family. Each kit provides an agenda for family meetings, character-based conversation starters, quick, easy, and healthy family recipes, along with suggestions for fun family physical activities.

Why not try it out for a full month, absolutely free!