Listen To Your Kids With Enthusiasm, It’s Important To Them
Listen to your kids enthusiastically. For them, your attention is important. Remember that they are getting to know the world and everything that happens around them is new and attractive.
If your child is young, he needs to share with you what he finds curious. He loves to share his findings. If he’s about 7 years old, he needs an accomplice, someone close to him to serve as an audience and applaud his adventures and ideas.
If he’s suddenly become a teenager who has started to get acne, he needs someone to understand him and explain the physical changes that are happening to him. You need arms that shelter you and ears that are always ready to listen to your concerns.
What your child wants to say is the comment that should matter most in the world. When we were little, one of the lessons that our grandmothers gave us was that: “when the older ones speak, the child must be silent”. Currently, this idea, for the sake of the little ones, has been transformed into “when the child speaks, the older ones must listen”.
The child of this century is subjected to an accelerated pace of life in which he is under the pressure of preparing, starting today, a prosperous future. She prepares to achieve high grades, skills almost of gifted people and an apprenticeship that involves subjects of all kinds.
She has little time even for her own rest. As if that weren’t enough, he belongs to a working family where all its members have few hours to devote to it. So give your child the opportunity to express themselves whenever they want, can, or need to. The moment you do, listen to him.
Ways to Listen to Your Children Enthusiastically
To listen to your children with enthusiasm:
- It is necessary to create the moment. It could be at dinnertime, after he’s done his homework, when he’s helping you with household chores, or just when he’s resting in his room.
- Be subtle, especially if he’s shy or rebellious. There will be many times when he will hide what he most wants to tell you or what he needs to hear. You must learn to read the message between the lines.
- Look into his eyes at all times. If you constantly change where you look, it can give the impression that you are distracted or not that you are not interested in what your child says.
- If you think you might have to interrupt the conversation, better not start. To talk to your child, you must have enough time and patience.
- Comment on your ideas.
- Let him talk about whatever he wants. So don’t run away from any subject. The issues that may seem the most thorny are certainly the ones that matter most.
- Never leave the conversation with your child for another moment. Today and now are fundamental.
- Don’t minimize anything he tells you.
- When talking, avoid interrupting him or leaving him in the middle of a conversation to do anything else.
- If your child is small, be delighted with what he says. That way he’ll know you care what he’s saying. Besides, he’ll be happy to see that you were surprised.
- Support, applaud and reward your child when needed.
- Show enough confidence to speak openly and to be honest with yourself.
- Be understanding and speak lovingly.
- Listen to your body language. What your child tells you with gestures, moods and behavior is certainly important. Words can be used to deceive and hide the truth. But body language will tell you when he’s worried or when something has happened.
- Be serious in each of your conversations.
- Put yourself in your child’s shoes, especially when he expresses feelings. Empathy is important to achieve good communication between both parties.
- When he speaks, be silent.
- Allow time for your child to finish his sentences. Don’t want to finish them yourself.
Mom, just listening to your kids with enthusiasm will tell them you care.
