Friday, October 17, 2014

PARENTING 101: ENJOY YOUR KIDS' COMPANY (I KNOW IT'S NOT EASY!)



This is actually the most important part of your 'To-Do' List.

It is not an easy task to do especially if you are an extremely busy mum or if your kids are quite a handful...tell me about it! But I found a way around this difficult task.

It's really important that one spends quality time with these kids because that way you get to know the REAL 'them'. You get to know how they view the world, you as a parent, their siblings, their school, friends, etc. But you know as a mum, half of the time, you are thinking of all the tasks ahead of you and your child is there calling out for your attention in his game or her homework. This can leave you irritable.

So the trick is this, the minute you notice that your child is seeking for your attention or needs that attention, work with your psyche, tell yourself that no other job is more important other than to truly listen to what that child is saying. The more you force yourself to really listen and act like you are interested, the more interested you are and the more you become part of their lives.

If you miss every opportunity of getting to know them, the further away you are from truly knowing them.

I used to hate school runs, because truly, it can be seriously overwhelming. Using the school bus was totally out of it for me because of the security instability of the country. But you see, after a while it became a pleasant thing for me because whether I liked it or not, my kids would forcibly tell me all that happened to them that day and how they reacted or responded to the situation. I usually seize every opportunity to instil my values, rebuke who I needed to rebuke or reprimand any ill behaviour. Now," I know my sheep and my sheep know me! "

What am I saying? I am saying that the more you don't see spending time with your children as a 'burden', the more interested you will be in getting to know them and the more you will look forward to enjoying their company.

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