Parenting Children - August 21, 2012

Day 9 – The Importance of Bonding


•  for children, love is spelled T.I.M.E.
•  children need quantity time as well as quality time
•  significance of first eighteen months of a child's life
•  who will be our child's main caregiver?

It can be hard to work out balance of parenting and employment
•  working at home/from home
•  full-time/part-time
•  the time we spend with our children is more powerful in communicating our love than anything we say We need to prioritize our time
•  learning when to said "yes" to our children and "no" to other people and things
•  the only place we are indispensable is at home
•  we need to plan our time
•  time with the people who are most precious to us doesn't just happen
•  if married, plan marriage time" each week
•  as a parent, plan "family time" each week
•  plan some one-to-one time with each child (we will look at this in detail later in the course)

We need to protect our time from:
•  the TV
•  the telephone
•  other people
•  our work

Question:
What demands on your time stop you from spending time with your children?

Study Guide

More Messages Associated With "Family"...

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We look at the role of listening and attention-giving in effective communications.2. Learn to listen

  • treat them like young adults (not children)
  • Listen carefully to their views and feelings
  • Effective communication requires that parents
    • learn to speak with their teenager rather than at their teenager (Gary Chapman, The Five Love Languages of Teenagers)
    • engage in discussion and be prepared to debate the issues rather than repeating Simplistic slogans such as “You’re too young to have a boyfriend” or “drugs are dangerous”

3. Give your full attention

  • recognize the important moments to listen and give your full attention
  • don’t try to listen to your teenager while doing something else at the same time

maintain eye contact; observe your teenager’s body language

When have you had your best conversations with your teenager?