Be Present
No matter how we connect with our kids, we need to be present with them in the moment. “We don’t need to fix their problems, we just need to be present with them until they figure out what they want to do with it.,” said Alkazian.
Caleb Backe, health and wellness expert for Maple Holistics, emphasized the importance of setting aside time for being with your child. “Understand this: if you don’t take the time, you will not make the time. Your job may be important. However, you can make more money, but you cannot make more time. Use it wisely, and set some aside for spending with your children.”
Part of being present is to make sure the interaction goes both ways. “Both people need to share comparable kinds of information on a similar level of intimacy or depth,” said Kevin Strauss, a wellness specialist who focuses on emotional health. “One of the greatest challenges in the parent-child relationship is that sharing is not equal, so connection is less likely to occur.” He recommended parents talk about their day as well as ask their children about school.
One way our family incorporates that is asking each person a question related to our day at dinner every evening, such as
• What would you like to share about your day?
• What happened today that made you smile?
• Tell us two truths and a lie about your day. Then the rest of us guess which one wasn’t true.
• How did you make someone else smile today?
• What was challenging about your day?