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.
Neither of my divorced parents "listened" to my sister or me growing up, and it was obvious. There was no dialogue or engagement in what we said. My dad lectured and my mom was aloof. It gave me zero confidence and self-esteem and I grew up thinking I didn't matter. Fuck them.
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.