Welcome to Mom Motivation Mondays where weekly contributing writers share their motherhood experiences to encourage you to find the joy in being a mom.
{This week: Post by Lauren}
There are MANY days where I say the first thing that pops into my head to my toddler. “STOP DOING THAT!” Instead of clearly communicating my requests, “Please don’t hit your brother,” I bark out commands.
Well you won’t be too surprised to find out, that doesn’t work too well with my toddler.
I took a step back and realized we don’t always effectively communicate with each other.
You often hear that communication is key in a marriage. Many times when there is a breakdown in communication. There are arguments, misunderstandings and hurt feelings.
As a school psychologist I frequently thought about things like this. I loved teaching my students how important it was to effectively communicate our feelings with others.
Then as a parent I slowly forgot these truths. I found myself wondering, why isn’t my child listening to me when I’m talking?
Lately, I’ve been contemplating how quickly times passes and how I want to make the most of our summer! I’m in denial our daughter is going to turn 4 next month.
This also got me thinking about our communication. Not only is it important in marriage, it’s important as a parent!
Why We Should Make Communication With Our Kids a Priority
We need to start effectively communicating with our kids now. So when they are teenagers, the channels of communication are already open. It’s never too early to start thinking about this!
Now I don’t want to put this huge weight on our shoulders and make ourselves feel like we need to get it right or we failed!
We learn and grow as parents. We won’t get it right 100% of the time and that is okay. That’s normal. But that doesn’t mean we can’t stretch ourselves and be intentional about things as parents.
I’m determined to keep an open dialogue between myself and my children. I want to learn how to share my feelings with them and help them share their feelings with me.
Growing up I had a great relationship with my mom (I still do!) and I always valued how we could tell each other anything. I want to do this with my daughter and make sure she feels comfortable sharing life with me.
What do you think about communication with our kids? Does it come naturally to you? Is this something you need to work on?
Lauren has a background in school psychology and recently became a stay at home mom. She loves empowering women to parent joyful, healthy, Godly children. Come find support in motherhood, faith, healthy living, relationships and more as Lauren journeys through life as a daughter, wife and mother at her blog, Heart of Deborah. Follow her on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter.
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Really enjoyed this post. My oldest is not even two yet. But I see so may emotions fire up in her. Sometimes I am lost at how to help her deal. Looking forward to when she starts to speak, so we can communicate and I can provide the supportive environment and set up that communication channel as this post describes. Great food for thought.
It definitely is a challenging stage for a variety of reasons. A supportive environment goes a long way to create parenting successes.