communication with your kids

communication with your kids

If you could ask your kids to pretend they have a magic wand and they can change anyone in the family to be any way they wanted/preferred, or could change how the family runs etc...

What do think they would say??

Do you think you would be ready to hear what they have to say - have you been "that parent" who is able to hear everything their child says or are you more the "children should be seen and not heard" type of parent?? Do you give your kids the chance to express themselves or do you shut them down when they are angry and are determined to get their point across, usually in the wrong way if it's come to this.

Lets face it, this can be scary for any of us but if you think asking this type of question is scary - then perhaps it's time to look the ways you're parenting and how you respond to your kids.

Just some food for thought.. Now go on and be brave, and ask them.

But make sure you don't shut them down if you don't like what you're hearing. This is the scary part but take a breath and if you're asking and you're calm, then chances are your child may just go easy on you.. Plus they will be super shocked that you're giving them an open slather to possibly annihilate you or even just bring you down a notch, its very empowering for a kid and the benefits, if done correctly are out of this world in terms of your connection with each other. And you both may have some work to do but at least you might get some answers if your connection with your child is strained at times.

Communication will always be the answer to healthy relationships and all good relationships are about being able to hear criticism that is honest and comes from a loving space. And the best part is that you can mirror it back to them when there are things they do that you don't like or that upset you instead of yelling and getting angry.

My beautiful Mum always told me not to yell at my kids - they soon stop listening after a while because all they say is "oh here she (or he) goes again.." with a roll of the eyes. And she was spot on, every time. Thanks Mum x

Natasha Harman