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Enjoying
Your Child's World
One
way to honor our children is to enjoy them with their own
interests in mind. You may think that's pretty easy. After
all, you've been enjoying your children for years. But many
parents, after careful examination, discover that they're
enjoying themselves and inviting their children to join in.
Often parents determine the conversation topics, the entertainment
choices, or the outing destinations. Parents make choices
they think will please their children, but in reality, they
are loving their children in ways that they themselves would
like to be loved.
Let Your
Child Choose the Play Topic One day when my (Scott) children
were young, I told them that they could each have a half hour
of my time during which I would play whatever they wanted.
Melissa, at four-years-old, chose playing with dolls. I never
realized how long a half hour was! We must have explored everything
that one doll could say to another. I also learned that dressing
a doll is like trying to put an octopus in a string bag. You
just get one part in and something else falls off. I realized
then that I often choose to enjoy my children according to
my own needs and interests instead of theirs.
Do you
know your children's favorite colors, foods, or friends? Many
children are willing to join in with their parents' plans
and the family ends up having a lot of fun together. But focusing
on a child's interests and topics of conversation can be a
good way to show honor. This is especially important with
teens. Listening to their music, allowing them to teach you
how to play a computer game, or just having a discussion about
something they like offers connecting points that parent/child
relationships need. The skill of enjoying children according
to their needs and interests is one way of honoring kids and
expressing to them that they're valuable.
This
parenting tip is taken from Effective Parenting and the book,
"Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes,
In You and Your Kids."
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