Simple Sunday! Bonding With Your Child

For some parents, bonding with their child is easy...for others it's more difficult.  For those of you who don't always know how to approach or relate to children-don't worry-it doesn't mean your a bad mom!  Using patience and practicing some skills can get you very far in parenting and help you build a positive and fun-loving relationship!

Have your child teach you something they are passionate about.  Kids love to teach adults their ideas or skills (and guess what....there's certain things they really do know more than us!) Pay CLOSE attention to your child's interests and let them "teach" you what THEY enjoy.  Here's some ideas... 

1.  MUSIC Tell them you really need to update your ipod playlist and ask them for some songs since they "know what's good these days"!  Even if you don't enjoy their taste, make the best of it and listen to it occasionally around them!

2.  TECHNOLOGY Ask your child if he or she can help you find information on a certain topic on the internet (because you "know they are so good at navigation on the internet"!)

3.  FASHION I know, this is a hard one to muster, but let your child take you to the mall to pick out cool earrings (or if you are a daring a new dress for an event!).  Try to be willing to listen to their ideas and ask them fora choice of which they like better rather than having them pick out a whole outfit and letting them down if you don't like any of it.  *This is why I suggested jewelry!

Allow your child to be the teacher or expert!  Whether this conversation takes 2 minutes (or a month), make sure you follow up with a statement about how impressed you are with all they know about this subject and how smart they are!