The restaurant trick that helps build children's confidence
This one restaurant rule could help your child overcome their social anxiety and make them better communicators.
Parents are using restaurant visits to teach their children important life lessons.
Social media users are sharing videos of themselves encouraging their kids to order their own food to help build their confidence.
While many children happily accept their colourful kiddies menus to select their own food, mom and dad take over the reins when the waiter or waitress arrives to take their orders.
However, something as simple as ordering for themselves can help them become independent adults.
Better communicators: It teaches them how to communicate clearly. They will have to make eye contact with the waiters, tell them exactly what they want and respond to follow-up questions.
Improves confidence: Communicating with an adult is difficult for many children, especially strangers. Implementing this restaurant rule will help them improve their confidence. It won't happen instantly, but the more they do it, the more relaxed they become.
Teaches respect: Interacting with people from the service industry also teaches them how to respect others. They learn to be polite and to behave in social settings.
Helps with social anxiety: If you have children who are scared of socialising with others, teaching them how to order their own food will help them overcome the anxiety. Many teenagers and school leavers are afraid to ask for help, and something as simple as making a job call sends them into panic mode.
READ: Understanding my shy child with Sandrina Naidoo
It's important not to force them to take their own orders, as this might make them more nervous. Guide them along the way and show support when they need it.
It starts with baby steps, and before you know it, they will be ordering food for the whole family.
Social media users have been teaching children as young as four years old to order for themselves.
"My son is 4, and we always have him pick out what he wants and order for himself. He's very polite as well and says please and thank you to servers. It's always funny to see how impressed the servers are with that," one parent wrote on Instagram.
Another Instagram user admitted that she was in her late teens when she learned this simple but important life lesson.
"I was 17 when I ordered myself at a restaurant for the first time. I was terrified because I've never done it before. I had to ask my friend to help me," the woman said.
"I didn't realize it was a skill I was missing until I needed it. Luckily, my friend was there. Same with paying at a till and withdrawing cash from an ATM. My parents never taught me, I had to Google it. Kids dont realize what skills they're missing and won't realize until they need it, and then the parents aren't there."
Give it a try next time your family goes out to a restaurant. Your children will thank you later!
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Image credit: iStock