It seems like our kids are more connected than ever, at least to everyone but us, their parents. They are on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook (even though I have it on good authority that’s for “old” people J). If your kids are like mine the extent of our conversations these day consist of about 10 words total, and most of those are “Mom can I have some money”. We are losing touch with our kids and with what is going on in today’s society we need to be getting closer to them rather than farther away. Now you may be reading this and think to yourself “I have a good relationship with my kids” and you might but what about a great relationship? Do they sit and talk with you for hours about what is going on in their lives? Do they engage in lengthy conversations about world events and their feelings about those events? Do you think you know all of their friends?
Gone are the days of old where kids were interested (at least somewhat) in what mom and dad had to say. There are probably not a lot of kids any more that would rather spend an evening at home “being” with mom and dad instead of hanging out with their friends. See hanging out with their friends is easy, they can still be on their phone engaging with social media while “hanging” out but they aren’t “being” with their friends. So many of our kids these days don’t really know what it means to “be” present or to “be” in the moment. And I think this is where we as parents are maybe failing them to some extent.
As parents it’s our job to teach our children how to be a child, be a good student, be a sibling, be a productive member of society but we often miss teaching them how to just BE in the moment, be present, be aware of what is going on around us and really experience those things. See we often get lost in teaching them how to do things, like homework, or ride a bike or drive, we often forget to teach them to be a human “BE”ing and not a human Doing. There are so many things for us to experience here on Earth and if we are so busy doing everything we can’t enjoy anything.
I challenge you to slow down, stop doing so much this week and start being with your children in a way that makes them appreciate the fact that you are there. Instead of worrying about what to cook for dinner, make a bag full of sandwiches and take them to the park for dinner or order pizza and watch a movie as a family or better yet play a board game. Whatever you do don’t be on your phone and don’t let your kids be on their phones or whatever digital device they might have. They will appreciate your time BEING with them more than they will appreciate what you have DONE for them.
