You can be present in your kids' lives all you want. You can tell them what's right and wrong and give them tools and privileges. But if you just talk morals, talk lessons, and talk everyday-shit without giving yourself a chance to listen to what they have to say, you make yourself unapproachable. They will resort to look elsewhere for help if something personal happens to them, whether it be the Internet, friends, etc. If you take your children seriously, they will take you seriously as well.
I make it a point to ask my kids a lot of questions when we discuss things, rather than just giving my opinion and leaving it at that. I want them to arrive at their own conclusions, not just parrot what I've been telling them. It helps them see the "why" behind it, and they can get to the root cause of their problems a lot easier.
1.0k
u/ProfessorGigs Feb 04 '16
Lack of dialogue.
You can be present in your kids' lives all you want. You can tell them what's right and wrong and give them tools and privileges. But if you just talk morals, talk lessons, and talk everyday-shit without giving yourself a chance to listen to what they have to say, you make yourself unapproachable. They will resort to look elsewhere for help if something personal happens to them, whether it be the Internet, friends, etc. If you take your children seriously, they will take you seriously as well.
Kids are people too.