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View Full Version : Tip of the Day: April 9, 2008


Hoppy
04-09-2008, 02:05 PM
From ScreamFree Parenting: www.screamfree.com

Quote of the Day: "A society in which adults are estranged from the world of children, and often from their own childhood, tends to hear children's speech only as a foreign language, or as a lie. Children have been treated as congenital fibbers, fakers and fantasisers."
— Beatrix Campbell, British journalist (1947- )
http://www.screamfree.com/resources/partners/template/images/hal_runkel.jpg Hal's Take: Today's society is very demanding. Many of us find ourselves running on empty and hardened to the world of play that we once loved. When we allow our schedules and demands to take over our lives, we cut ourselves off from an important connection we have to our children. We can even start to resent them for the fun that they do have because we've forgotten how. When is that last time you really listened to your son or daughter? Children generally have a fresh and positive view of the world, but we often only hear them when they complain and then we take it personally. Try letting go of a little tension the next time you see your kids and just be with them. Listen to what they have to say without trying to teach or shape them. Just sit back and allow yourself to see the world through their eyes; you might be surprised at how much fun it is, even if only for a moment.
Hal Runkel, LMFT, author of ScreamFree Parenting:
Raising Your Kids by Keeping Your Cool.

Libby
04-09-2008, 02:15 PM
Sometimes I like to just stop & sit on the front steps & let the girls run around the front yard. It is my breather & it makes me laugh as they tell me their stories & show me things they find. I try not to say too much & just listen to them.

nunya
04-09-2008, 02:19 PM
When I pick up my son from school I ask him how is day was. 99% of the time, the answer is "good". I always ask, what was good about it. That starts a very long story of his whole day, some of the stories are quiet funny. He is very very chatty. :love:

Libby
04-09-2008, 02:27 PM
I like to ask them questions about their day - if they say they did nothing, I ask them if they sat at their desks & stared at the walls- that makes them laugh - so then we go through the litany of things- who was in? who was out? did you go out? how was lunch & soon they are interrupting each other to tell me what their day was like. It is sweet.

Busty Vixen
04-09-2008, 03:34 PM
I am very silly with my kids. They know when I'm being serious and when I'm not- that is important.

But I love the part of me that is able to be silly with them. I think they do too.