Social skills are part of Parenting

Is it me or has everything beyond the necessities of parenting grown to mountainous proportions.  We are encouraged to factor into our parenting appropriate talk, structured play, sensible diets, self-esteem activities, and on top of that to model a loving relationship with our partner.  Don’t know about you but I suddenly feel very tired – lol (lower case).

Humour aside there is no mistaking that parenting has become a sophisticated undertaking and part of this insurgency is social skills.  More and more experts are talking about the importance of social skills, essential to a child’s success as it builds resilience, makes them more likable by other children and equips them for conflict resolution.  They also say that it’s not merely a natural course of events in childhood but a skill which can be harnessed through engaging parenting.

For a new parent, developing your baby’s social skills is easy. Have your face close to your baby’s face and pull funny faces, play tickling games and use silly voices, which all lets your baby know they are important. This creates an interaction that is self-fulfilling because babies will yearn for more and as adults respond to their yearning, creates a desire for babies to become greater social beings.

So forget all of those expensive baby toys. The cheapest and best toy for your newborn is usually right in front of them, and as a bonus you’ll never lose it under the car seat or down the sofa.

Of course as your baby grows, so do the social skills that you incorporate into your parenting.  The Baby Signs program is one of those skills you can enmesh into parenting once your baby gets a little older.  Starting when babies are around six months old; it’s backed by research, proven to provide babies with an early understanding of communication and most importantly broaden their social skills.

I found this very cute baby video that shows a baby imitating and enjoying the simple social interaction the adult is giving.