that you like (not just love) your children.
What does “liking” your children mean? Here’s an example. It’s a
Saturday and you’re home by yourself for a few hours—a rare
occurrence! Everyone has gone out. You’re listening to some music
and just puttering around. You hear a noise outside and look out to see
a car pulling up in the driveway. One of your kids gets out and heads
for the front door.
How do you feel in your gut right at that moment? If it’s “Oh no,
the fun’s over!” that may not be like. If it’s “Oh good, I’ve got some
company!” that’s more like like.
Liking your children and having a good relationship with them is
important for lots of reasons. The most important reason may be that
it’s simply more fun. Kids are naturally cute and enjoyable a lot of
the time, and you want to take advantage of that valuable quality. And
they only grow up with you once.
Strategies for Strengthening Your Relationships:Practice sympathetic listening
Avoid over-parenting
Join in one-on-one fun
Solve problems togetherNext up? In chapter 3 we’ll examine the strange and amazingly
disruptive idea that adults carry around in their brains about small
children.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the importance and magnitude of
the job of parenting? From now on, just focus on managing difficult