Sometimes life is crazy.
And in the crazy we can forget how much our little people NEED us to actually pay attention to them. To hear them. To affirm them. To answer their questions. To treat them like HUMANS and not just little annoyances.
Not just be in the room with them while they watch a cartoon.
Not take them to the park while we are on our phone.
Ouch.
But to be present. To listen. To ENGAGE .
Ever thought about how hard it would be to be a kid in this crazy time?? Or how it would feel if every time you try to figure something out, someone fusses at you or hushes you or ignores you? Not very pleasant.
And I fully understand how hard it can be to be present.
But friend, that doesn’t negate our responsibility as parents to give our children that attention. If they don’t get it from you, they’ll get it from someone… and that someone will have their heart instead of you. And I don’t think you want that anymore than I do.
So, if you’d like to do something to meet the need your child has of feeling connected to you…let me share something I recently started with my daughter.
A journal. A mother-daughter journal. It wasn’t fancy. It wasn’t expensive. Just a composition book with a cute little kitten on it (her current favorite thing ever).
I presented it to her in the form of a treasure hunt that involved completing “challenges” (which were actually homeschool lessons in disguise!) but do whatever works for you.
The concept is simple. Just take turns writing notes to each other! It can be anything from random fun questions to something that you wanted to share in the day but got too busy and couldn’t. It could be a prayer request. A secret. Something scary that they faced that day. Maybe something they’d like to talk to you about more in depth. Some genuine heartfelt encouragement from you to them…or them to you. Use your imagination to engage with them.
The goal is for your child to know that this is a way to share their HEART with you and it won’t get lost or overlooked.
You could hide it for them to find. Or just give it to them. Ever how you do it, just make it fun.
I’m hoping this will be something that we can continue into her teen years and even adulthood. Can you imagine the treasure it will be? Reading about the first time we saw a dolphin together or how hard she worked to learn to do a cartwheel?
And the bonus…improved writing and reading skills with no nagging!
Happy journaling!
