Strong Willed Children Are Blessings

Let’s talk about how it’s a good thing that you have a strong willed child. 

It takes a lot of patience and energy to raise a strong willed child. That’s an understatement. Children have more energy than us as it is, and this is especially true for strong willed children who have all the energy in the world to keep arguing with you about something. 

But the fact is, it is a huge blessing to have a strong willed child because they will grow up to be an assertive and confident critical thinker. Your child thinks for themselves and doesn’t let people push them around. Your child will stand up for themselves and they will stand up for what is right. Your child is a natural leader and innovator that is here to shape the world rather than letting the world shape them. 

As their parent, you are charged with the important and difficult task of guiding them. This is a lot of work, it will take all the patience and love that you have, the reward at the end, you will have a child who grows up to be a strong, capable, driven person. 

Compare this with a compliant child. They are much easier to parent, they just do what they are told, they don’t challenge you or the status quo. 

But think about this, what is a compliant child? The child is either eager to please people, or they don’t feel strongly about their opinions. It’s great that they are easy going when they are children, they just listen, BUT, when they grow up, who knows if they know how to stand up for themselves or fight for what makes them happy. Will they just stay quiet in an unhappy or unreasonable work situation? 

With the strong willed child, at least your work is done when they are grown. For a child who is so eager to please people and avoid conflict, you might be worrying about them for many years to come. 

So is it better one way or the other? Actually, it doesn’t matter because children are typically born one way or another, somehow they just come out and they have the personality that they have. We don’t get to choose what our children will be like, but we can choose how we parent them.

For all the parents out there who have challenging children, I hope that you two have good teamwork and grow closer together through this journey. Rely on each other and be there for each other.