BUILDING RELATIONSHIP: 2 UNIQUE WAYS TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR CHILD
EMAIL 1
Copy/Paste the email below.
Subject Line: Building an Emotional Relationship with your Child
Dear (Insert Parent Name Here),
When your child goes to elementary school, it feels like they grow up overnight. Where did the little toddler go with the messy spaghetti on their face?
As your child develops physically, so does their language, and with it, conversation. At this moment, you have a chance to build an emotional relationship with them. Today, I give you a brief, encouraging video with 2 easy, on-the-go tips to help you learn how to communicate in such a way that you can connect with your child emotionally.
To view the video, click the link below.
https://vimeo.com/parentministry/review/451261208/368f6cf39d
As always, I am here to support you as parents. If you need anything, please do not hesitate to reach out.
(Insert Signature Here)
EMAIL 2
Copy/Paste the email below.
Subject Line: How to Communicate with your Child
Dear (Insert Parent Name Here),
As your child develops over the elementary years, they make lots of discoveries…friends, school subjects, extra-curricular activities, and more. The calendar fills up, car rides begin, and so does the conversation from the back seat. 🙂
If you find yourself in this place, I have an encouraging (short) video for you on how to communicate with your child to build an emotional relationship.
To view the video, click the link below.
https://vimeo.com/parentministry/review/451261208/368f6cf39d
If you have any questions or thoughts, please email me.
Cheering you on,
(Insert Signature Here)
VIDEO
SOCIAL MEDIA SWAG
Two simple ways to build a relationship with your child! Check your inbox for a brief, encouraging video just for parents.
2 practical, on-the-go tips to better communicate with your child! Check your inbox for more information on this short video!
Check out our brief, encouraging parent video. Look in your inbox for more information!
Want to build a relationship with your child? Check your inbox for a brief, encouraging video just for parents.
VIDEO SCRIPT
Have you ever heard this statement, children should be seen and not heard? That statement often implies that children should not speak unless someone speaks to them, especially around adults.
One of the things that I love about Jesus was when he came and walked upon this earth that he brought about God’s kingdom. Meaning he came and walked in human form and taught us what God thinks, and feels, and how God sees the world that he created. And one of those that he began to teach on was how he viewed children.
This truth was recorded in the book of Matthew, and I want to read it to you. It says, “One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could lay his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering Jesus. But Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like these children.'” I love this because what Jesus did at this moment, in the setting that he is in because he was seen as what’s called a Rabbi. So, he’s known as a teacher. And he is a teacher that’s respected by his peers. And he is saying, hey, if you want to know how God views children, he respects them. He values them. And this was like turning everything upside down because, in this setting, children were viewed as second class citizens. They were to be seen and not heard. They didn’t matter. They weren’t valued. They were second class citizens. And Jesus came in and said, God values children. I value children. This moment reflects God’s kingdom.
So as your child moves through 1st grade, 2nd, or 3rd, now is the time to develop communication and listening skills. Because children actually do have something to say. Even at that young age, they do have hearts, and they have souls, and they have things they want to share.
So, I want to give you two simple tips on how to talk with your child through the lens of how God treats them.
One is, be available. And what I mean by that is, as parents, we’re constantly providing, preparing, and doing for them. And sometimes we can be so busy doing for them that we forget to be with them. One of the ways we can show our children respect is just to be with them. Not necessarily be doing their laundry, cooking them meals, or running them to school and back, but it’s climbing on the floor and playing Legos-those Legos that we have stepped on so many times it just hurts. Right? And we’re more about pick up the Legos than just sitting down and playing with the Legos. But being with them is how you build a relationship.
This leads me to the second tip, which is actively listening. Listening is an art form, and it requires active listening, which means we listen wholeheartedly, fully-focused on what they might be saying. Now, they might be talking about Minecraft or something we have no clue what they’re saying, but we actively listen.
We seek to understand our children because we’re showing them respect. And that might seem a little weird, right, for a son or a daughter who is a first-grader or a second-grader who might be talking about what’s on the TV show they just saw or a YouTube channel.
But one of the things that Jesus taught us as parents – I value children. And just because they’re young doesn’t mean that we need to dismiss what they have to say. We can show them respect, just like he did.
And so, I especially love, in this text, the role of the parents- when it says, “parents brought their children to Jesus.” And that’s ultimately what we’re called to do is we want to take them to him. And, by being available and by actively listening, we begin to build a relationship with them.
As parents, we have so much going on. If I could write a job description for us, it would be cruise director, CEO, CFO, chef, Uber driver, peacekeeper at the UN, PE coach, teacher, and so much more. It’s a serious job description, being a parent. It’s no joke.
But, in all the good that we do for our kids, the greatest thing we can do is to be with them, build a relationship with them so they can see what it’s like to interact with someone who loves them completely and wholeheartedly. Because ultimately, that’ll point them to how Jesus feels about them, that he loves them, that he is willing to listen to them, that they’re worth being heard.
So, I hope these two tips help you be effective in how you talk with them. Communication to a relationship is like oxygen to the soul, so when you begin to communicate with your children effectively, you are bringing life into the parent-child relationship.