Tips

Helpful tips.

 #1.  Really look into the eyes of your child when she is talking.  And watch the movements and gestures of her body and face while she plays and communicates to you.  This simple thing brings me so much more joy.  My soul can really feel my child’s soul and appreciate it if I take the time to  look into their eyes.  It is so easy to get task oriented and forget the first step in communication ourselves.  Look at the person. 

Your child will also be much more happy when he has a visible sign that you are paying attention to what he is really communicating. 

 #2.  Boredom is a state of mind.  This is what my father always told me as a child, and I believed him.  He would explain to us that we could choose boredom or we could choose something useful; it was up to us.  He would often follow up his lesson with, “If you choose boredom, keep it to yourself, no one wants to hear about how you are torturing yourself.” 

My children don’t ever say they are bored.  When they have a few times, I tell them the same lesson and then I say, “I have an instruction for you.  I need you to clean the stove top please.”  Once they work for a bit, their characters are usually improved. 

Our children need to know that they have the power to either make life meaningful or to make life dull.  It is up to them. 

I often use the term “useful”.  On a regular basis, I ask my children, “What are doing that is useful?”  No more than 10% of our days should be spent on things that are not useful.  If our children are always engaged in useful activities, then they will get into the habit of feeling like they are being useful and always want to take initiative in their lives.