My daughter is 5 and I try to have daily conversations with her about her day. REAL conversations to find out how she is really doing. Even at 5 life can be tough. I want her to know that she can depend on me and I will support her... she has already encountered peer pressure, anxiety and noticed she is different because of her hearing aids.
The other day she told me "I can't do that because I'm a girl" and if you know me you certainly know I flipped. Before I let her go to school that morning we had a long talk that girls can do anything they want. She also let me know that she doesn't like playing with many of the girls and I told her that just because she is a girl doesn't mean that she has to play with them, she can play with the boys or do her own thing.
Caitlyn also tells me all the fun things she learns - her favorite subjects are Math and Spanish. It is a good thing I remember rudimentary Spanish words and she used to like Dora & Diego when she was younger!
Even though Conor is too young for the real conversations he is included in them. Hopefully hearing us talk will help him increase vocabulary and learn some family values.
Take 10 minutes every day and have a real conversation with your kids. Actually listen to them. It is never too early to start this... the earlier the lines of communication are open the better.
Right on, Val! Thanks for sharing. We find James plays a little more with the girls only because he's not into sports and it's that or the one piece of playground equipment, slides and monkeybar combo, to play on.
ReplyDeleteWe try talking to James. He sure doesn't chatter about school this year like he did last. WE do keep trying.