Communication Takes Effort

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Do you communicate with your kids or just talk to them? Are your conversations more of a one-way street or a two-way street?

George Bernard Shaw says, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

Learning to communicate is a skill most parents don’t develop. Many of us talk over our kids and/or talk down to them. We finish their sentences or turn quickly to lectures.  

Here are some quick tools to communicate better with your children:

1. Don’t multitask when communicating. Focus on the child.

2. Ask open-ended questions, and then keep asking them to open up a safe dialogue.  

3. Don’t try to communicate when you are in a hurry. Recognize the hurry moment with your child and make a time to communicate later when things are not rushed.  

You don’t have to communicate all the time. There are times when things just need to get done. But if communication — true communication — rarely happens, then it is going to be difficult for your child to trust you and want to communicate with you.  

The good news is as you get better at communication, over time the better your children will learn to communicate, not only with you but with others as well.