Talking to your kids about daily activities or to sync up schedules is a necessity of family life – but it's not always genuine conversation. Conversing with your child can be challenging. Any parent can corner their kid and speak in their general direction. But maintaining said conversation can be difficult, especially when kids are glued to their phones and are prone to one-word answers. Here are four surefire ways to spark up a conversation with your child:
- Tell them an interesting story: About your day, about another time in your life, about something that happened to you when you were their age.
- Save it for the car: Less eye contact and less distraction can result in kids opening up.
- Tweak your questions: Don't ask "How was school?" when you can ask "Any drama today?"
- Kids are more likely to open up about something important to them: Ask them what they are reading or watching on TV.
Remember: if your child approaches you and initiates a conversation DROP EVERYTHING AND LISTEN! Even if you are stepping naked into the shower. Even if you've already fired up Netflix. Talking is good. But full-fledged conversation is always better.
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- Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don’t listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won’t tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff -