My giveaway on Communicating With Your Kids has generated a lot of useful tips and comments on how parents foster good communication with their children and I thought it would be a shame to let them wallow in the comments section so here I have compiled some of those comments into categories.
The first tip in this series was to EAT TOGETHER. This time, we’ll talk about how individual, one on one time with your kids can encourage them to talk more openly. That is certainly true with my girls who vie for this ‘alone’ time as much as they can. Sometimes it is just a matter of them feeling special but other times it’s their only chance to tell you things that they wouldn’t want anyone else to hear, even their sisters.

INDIVIDUAL TIME

These parents found that spending one on one time with their kids can be invaluable towards getting them to be open.

Amber Says:
My guys are 13, 15, 16. WE usually talk when we are in the car. I know if something is bothering one of them because he will usually say, Can we go for a walk? just me and you? I know to drop everything and go. The best way is usually their way. They want you to know, they just need to tell you their way. My guys come to me with everything, unless its money! that is their dads speciality….I also utilize myspace and facebook to see how they are feeling and follow up on it.

Elkaye Says:
I do my best to let them know that I’m available if they want to share their day or whenever they have a problem. When they are having a bad day, I will fix a favorite meal or dessert. Or I will spend one-on-one time with them outside of the house and do something that they would enjoy. It usually puts them in a better mood to want to talk about any issues they are having.

lace Says:
I make sure to spend time with my nieces at the end of the day to see how their day went. We talk about the good stuff and the bad stuff that happened and what could have been done different.

Kim Says:
We stay connected by email, video conferencing and the plain old telephone. We also like to get together once a month for a girl’s only weekend!

Doreen Says:
I don’t have any kids yet. I’m 32 & single. I live at home with my Mom and we go out often together. It’s way too expensive to move out and get an apartment. Also, with my job–I work in a Special Needs School, it doesn’t pay well so at this time I def cannot afford to be out on my own. Thanks for the chance to win! I’d def share this with my Mom IF I won!

 
 
The How to Talk to Your Kids Series:
1. Eat Together
2. Individual Time
3. Talk About Anything Anywhere
4. Learn Their World
5. Start Them Young
6. Listen, Don’t Judge and Be Honest

7. Unique Conversation Starters
 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 at 2:31 pm and is filed under children, family, parenting, Teens. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.