If you don’t listen to the little stuff when they are little, they won’t tell you the big stuff when they are big….
Sometimes it’s really hard to truly LISTEN to our children. The reason is twofold:
The OUTER NOISES of our everyday life really bother us - The other kids needing our attention, our phone endlessly beeping with notifications, the pile of laundry that needs to be done, and many more….
The INNER NOISES are even harsher to deal with – It’s all those feelings that pop up whenever our child is telling us about something that happened, like “no one played with me today”, or “the teacher yelled at me, because I forgot my homework….”. We suddenly feel sad, angry or frustrated. We want to intervene, or jump in and tell our child what to do, or what she should have done differently….
Let’s try and STOP listening to the noises, and START listening to our child.
A few tips on HOW TO LISTEN:
If there is too much NOISE, tell your child you are unavailable right now, but do come back to him!!
Listen up until the end - Do not interrupt your child, and make sure she is finished telling you THE WHOLE STORY.
Ask OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS like: How did it make you feel? What did you do about it? Could you have done something differently?
Ask your child if she needs YOUR HELP in any way, and HOW she would like you to help her.
Do not take it for granted, and thank your child for TRUSTING YOU enough to share with you.
If you truly listen to your children when they are little, there is a great probability they will also share with you when they are bigger.
If you have any questions or need help with any of the above, I’m here for you.
Barbara 054-8077881