“There are two great days in a person’s life –
the day we are born and the day we discover why.”
William Barclay
This week in my house we are celebrating 2 of my 3 kids birthdays. So what did we do? We had a BBQ, outside of course.
The day was awesome hanging out, eating, sharing stories, advice offering with lots and lots of laughing, smiles and food!
It did not take me long to process all the wonderful things being discussed and shared as they were happening and I realized early on in the day how lucky I am to have great friends, family and kids!
Our celebrations are reminding me of why it has been so important to me to spend so much time, and energy on my relationships with my kids!
This brings me to a very important point –
Figuring out a great relationship with your children is not only possible it is 100% attainable.
A lot of people ask me what I feel is the most important contributing factor to having such a great relationship with my kids, my answer is ALWAYS… Being there for your child, unconditionally, no matter what.
But what does unconditional love mean exactly? How do you do it? And is it really possible?
Unconditional love is known as affection without any limitations, it can also be love without conditions, you do it by working at it hard every day, every minute of every day and, yes, it is 100% possible.
Obviously, there is a lot more to having a great relationship with your children but this IS the first step!
What’s the second step? Well it goes right along with the Unconditional love concept which is to say… Be there for them and be that someone they want to talk to, no matter what. Be there even if it is hard and you have to change your plans because your child needs you, be there outside a child’s bedroom even if they don’t want to talk to you just in case they all of a sudden want to talk, be there to watch their after school activities because you care how they are doing. Being there also gives you the time to help educate them, inform them and most importantly be there for them, always because you want to. I promise it goes a long way with children even if they don’t acknowledge it!
There are many, and I mean many steps and actions parents should take with their kids and there is NO cookie-cutter approach. But I do know for sure that you won’t be able to control your children or stop them from doing all the things that you did, but you can help them make informed decisions by just changing your thinking just a little bit to include, unconditional love and always being there – then you can and will get through to the other end of any situation and have a great relationship.
I often talk about the deal I personally made with each one of my kids. The deal was and still is … if you are out and need a ride, whether it is because you or someone you are with for whatever reason cannot drive the kids are to call me NO MATTER WHY and I would just show up, no questions asked, no mention of the situation ever again, kind of like the song “You just call out my name, and you know where ever I am I’ll come running…”. Well if you are wondering if any of my kids took advantage of this deal … the answer would be yes and you know what I did… I showed up with blinders on, I got everyone home safely and I moved on never mentioning it ever again. All because I invoked the unconditional love and the I’m here for you if you need me concept. Amazingly, we are all still friends and we have great relationships together!
OK back to the subject at hand
BEING THERE FOR YOUR CHILD UNCONDITIONALLY IS VERY IMPORTANT
Talk to your kids, cry with your kids, laugh with your kids, share with your kids, and love your kids because in the long run, the mistakes and disagreements won’t matter, or even be remembered, but the hours of talking, laughing, sitting and watching every single sports event, that is what will be remembered by all!
Ok well there is some insight on how a great relationship with your children is possible!
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could learn more on how to work with your children to help each other? I can help you talk to your kids so it works for you and for them. I will help you discover what’s awesome about your kids and work with you to start building a better relationship today!
The parenting life is way more fun when you are communicating and everybody gets to be who they want to be!
Listen … if there is more than one thing you can get out of this blog posting please include this – WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES but it is how we handle them that makes us a better (or not so better) person!
Peace, Love and Nature
Wendy
Your local Hiking Hippie, Life Coaching #1 Fan!
