Trust is one of the hardest things to build between two people. As hard as trust is to build, it is even harder to rebuild. Once someone has broken the trust that you have placed in them the process of rebuilding, and allowing yourself to be vulnerable enough to trust them again, is a long hard road that requires a lot of persistence and patience.
We have probably all had someone that has betrayed our trust in some way. Depending on circumstances, it can be a very difficult situation to recover from. Trust is something that is earned and something that we have to express the importance of to our children. It is important in both personal and professional venues and is an important aspect of an individual’s character.
It is a very treacherous situation when one of our children breaks our trust. Just as with any other breach of trust, it is difficult to learn to trust them again. It is important, especially with children, that they are allowed these types of mistakes and be given the opportunity to prove themselves to us again. We have to use these opportunities as teaching moments that they can learn from and then hopefully they will make better decisions the next time around.
While this is all easy for me to say, it is so hard to do. I know and understand that children are going to make mistakes and hopefully learn from them, but it is hard to make those first steps towards giving them another chance. However, if we don’t afford them these chances now, how will they learn from their mistakes? I suggest starting very small when encouraging trust to be re-established. Having children start with minor decisions and tests can help to rebuild trust. One good decision and praise will hopefully get them started in the right direction and encourage them to go back down the right path to making the right decisions, and realizing how important issues of trust can be.