When you have a young child at home, it’s natural to want to avoid talking about difficult topics. But after a while, you’ll realize that if you’re going to have any meaningful relationship with your child, you’ll need to address the inevitable bumps in the road.
That’s why having better conversations with your kids is so important. This article discusses how to pay attention when your children talk to you and make them understand that you understand their opinions and points of view.
1. Get ready to listen
It’s important to prepare yourself to have good conversations with your kids. If you’re not ready, you may well miss the chance to understand what they’re trying to tell you. When children sense that we don’t want to listen, or if they sense that we already know what they’re going to say, they won’t bother telling us anything.
2. Ask good questions
It’s easy to get into a routine of asking your kids the same questions. It can be tough to get our kids to open up if we’re always asking the same old questions.
If you want some good ideas for questions, talk to your children and find out what they’re most interested in talking about right now. Then ask them about it!
3. Quiet your mind
It’s tough to listen if we’re always thinking about what we have to do next or what we think is wrong with some other kid. That’s why it’s really important to keep our minds quiet and stay focused on the conversation. And if it becomes too much for you, just look at a little picture book in the living room and sing a song. Your kids will love you for that!
4. Tune in all the way
It’s not enough to just sit down as a father and listen to your kids or ask them questions. You have to be fully aware of the conversation the whole time. When you’re not fully engaged, it’s easy for you to miss important things that they may say because they don’t want to bother you by saying anything that would interrupt your routine. Your children will feel more comfortable telling you more things if you tune in. And what a pleasure it is just listening without interrupting!
5. Be attentive to nonverbal communication
Pay attention if your children are talking to you and making faces, rolling their eyes, fidgeting in their chairs, or doing other things! Kids will often sigh or look away when we aren’t paying attention. It can be helpful to ask them directly if there’s something else they want to talk about.
As parents, if you get ready to listen, ask good questions, quiet your mind and tune in fully, you will be ready to have great conversations with your kids! If you master these tips, your relationship with your children will be closer and better than ever before. As a result, both of you will become happier. Isn’t this what we all want for our families?
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