No time is more precious than that spent with your family, and parents are frequently being told the benefits to children of quality time spent with the adults in their lives. The benefits aren’t exclusively for kids, though. Check out this list of ways from Relationship Resolutions that both children and adults gain from time spent together.
1. Trust
Trust is the foundation of any good relationship, and never is it more important than when parenting your children. When children are young, building trust can be as easy as following through on your promise to read them a bedtime story and always showing up to pick them up from daycare. As kids age and desire to become independent, ReachOut notes that it can become more difficult to cultivate a mutually trusting relationship as adolescence can put a strain on both a parent’s ability to trust their teen to make good decisions and an adolescent’s trust that their parents will allow them to make their own decisions.
Although the kind of actions that made your teen trust you when they were little such as showing up and keeping promises are also necessary in adolescence, you also need to show your children you are willing to trust them. Teenagers also need to be able to trust that you will listen when they inevitably make mistakes as they grow more independent. Knowing they can count on you to still have their back even as you express your concerns makes it easier for everyone involved to navigate the sometimes difficult process of growing up.
2. Communication
From an early age, babies and children depend on the adults in their lives to teach them the communication skills they need to survive and thrive. When children are first born, this can mean narrating what you are doing as you go about your day so that babies can be exposed to new language and sentence structure. Sign language can be a useful communication tool when babies and toddlers are still learning how to articulate their needs with spoken words. As kids age, demonstrating how to communicate effectively helps build skills they can use in school and other social activities.
Communication doesn’t only benefit your children, though. As a parent, being able to understand the needs of your children and having an open line of communication is essential to cultivating a positive relationship between you and your children. Independence Australia recommends practicing active listening; you can also use playtime effectively to increase communication skills.
3. Leadership
Spending time together can be an excellent way to model for children solid leadership skills that they can use in their own lives. Parents are natural leaders in the family, so the behaviors that you demonstrate will be the ones your children mimic. Positive leadership qualities you may want to show your kids include being willing to learn from your mistakes, continuously seeking to improve yourself, working to be more open-minded, and prioritizing collaboration to solve problems. Not only can these leadership skills help your children when they are put into leadership roles in school and extracurricular activities, but they can also be a valuable skill they can use to improve their career prospects.
Don’t let the years you have with your children slip by without taking advantage of the time they spend under your roof. With the right modeling and relationship building, you can help your kids grow up into leaders who trust you and know how to communicate. With any luck, those skills will mean a lot of calls home even after they’ve left the nest.
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Relationship Resolutions helps people make informed choices in their relationships and assist with the legal process that may follow a separation/divorce or the commencement of a second, third marriage. Contact us today to learn more! 0426 21 88 69
A big thank you to Daniel Sherwin (Author of this post)
