Transcript
0:00 Are there things we do proactively that help us establish ourselves as the kind of parent our kid would come to? One of the things that a parent can do proactively is to think to yourself, what was middle school like for me? Who was nice to me? Who was mean to me? Who was a special person in my life? How did I deal with things? And then approach your kid, right, in a way that just says, "I'm here for you." There's some things that haven't changed probably since, you know, I was kind of your age.
0:28 And yes, I know we say, "Oh, kids don't want to hear that." But they actually do. They want to know that we can relate. >> It's making me think that saying to your kids, first of all, the starter sentence, I have to tell you about something I was randomly thinking about. There were so many times when I was probably right about your age that I felt so left out like, and those moments were so painful and so hard. And just putting out there if any like thing like that has ever happened to you or does, you could totally talk to me about it.
0:55 If I say something like that to my own kid, I just want everyone to know my kid will never say back to me in the moment, I really needed to hear that. Thank you for laying the foundation for open communication. No.
Summary
- Reflect on personal middle school experiences to relate to your child.
- Acknowledge the emotional challenges of feeling left out during adolescence.
- Use personal anecdotes to initiate conversations about feelings and experiences.
- Encourage open communication by assuring your child they can talk about their struggles.
- Understand that children may not express gratitude or recognition immediately.
- Create a safe space for dialogue by being approachable and relatable.
- Reinforce the idea that shared experiences can strengthen parent-child bonds.