The Most Overlooked Way to Connect with Your Child

The Most Overlooked Way to Connect with Your Child
How often have you seen a parent walking with a child and looking down at their mobile phone? Have you thought about how this may be a missed opportunity to connect?

When you are with a child, every moment is a chance to connect and our moments seem ever harder to find with parent and child occupied with school, work, play, social media, grabbing a snack, getting where we want to go in a hurry.

But with kids, there is no time like the present. Eye contact is what they crave. It only takes a moment to let a child know you care, by stopping whatever you may be focused on (except when driving!) and looking into their eyes.

This simple task is the most overlooked way to connect with a child. And yet it is the simplest and the quickest. And it has the added benefit of putting you the parent in touch with your parental love.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes we even avoid eye contact with a child because we know instinctively that it will change our focus and reset our priorities in an instant?

It is a lot easier to say no if we avoid eye contact, if we can tell ourselves the child is bothering us, being unreasonable, can wait a minute, or can take care of him or herself.

But what they want most in that moment is to know they are top priority. And a warm look into their eyes can empower them like nothing else to wait, or to find their own amusement, or to solve their own problems.

You may find this simple step can save you all kinds of time talking, consoling, making excuses, fixing problems, and so on. If a child knows they are tops with you, their confidence soars and they feel more capable, independent, and yes happy.

Randy's Take Home Tip: Next time you heave a sigh and wonder how you will ever get everything done if your child wants your attention one more time, give her or him the gift of your direct undivided attention, demonstrated by your warm glance into their eyes. Love doesn't wait. It is only now. I knew I had to write my first parenting book when its title came into my mind: "You Can Postpone Anything But Love."

Please visit my brand new website designed to connect you with the best tools on the planet for creating the life you want with your child. http://www,parenthoodtools.com.

And tell me what you think!  

Family First | VoiceAmerica™

Family First | VoiceAmerica™

Many of our cities are struggling with misdirected youth and increasing violence, whether over drugs, gangs, or simply explosive frustration. And smaller communities, suburbs, and rural areas are not immune. Many communities try to increase enforcement, keep kids in school, and find healthy activities for youth. My guest this week on Family First has found a whole new way of getting to youth which has proven amazingly effective and has been getting a lot of attention.

Orrin Checkmate Hudson says that the game of chess taught him that he was responsible for his own success or failure. His innovative programs help youth improve their focus and develop the analytical-thinking skills needed to make the winning move. A dynamic teacher, motivational speaker, and author, he has taught thousands better focus and decision-making skills through the game of chess. Hudson’s book “One Move at a Time” eloquently weaves chess strategy with 20 important life lessons into a great read for all ages.

 To hear the program, simply click on the link above or go to:http://www.voiceamerica.com/show/1916/family-first Friday at 1 PM PT, 2 PM MT, 3 PM CT, 4 PM ET, or any time afterwards on podcast or apps.

Orrin Checkmate Hudson is founder of Be Someone, two-time World Open Speed Chess Champion, and author of “One Move at a Time.” The seventh of 13 children, Hudson grew up in public housing in Birmingham, Alabama, and found himself in and out of foster care. As a teenager, he was stealing tires and struggling in school, until James Edge, his high school English teacher, taught him the game of chess.

Says Hudson, "With his help, I began to understand life through a chessboard. He showed me that every move you make has consequences and in order to improve my game and my life, I had to make better choices.” Hudson won the Birmingham City Chess Championship in 1999 and 2000, despite being the lowest-ranking player in the tournament both times. Then in May 2000, news of a senseless and tragic robbery which killed five people inspired him to quit his job and use his life savings to found Be Someone. Hudson is married with seven children and is a member of Atlanta First Baptist Church.

Don't miss this dynamic interview!

To hear the program, simply click on the link above or go to:http://www.voiceamerica.com/show/1916/family-first Friday at 1 PM PT, 2 PM MT, 3 PM CT, 4 PM ET, or any time afterwards on podcast or apps.

Randy Rolfe Take Home Tip: Spending time with a youngster is the best way to have a positive influence on them. Make it light and fun and consistent with your own values and philosophy. Kids learn by observation and imitation, especially of the adults closest to them. So give them good stuff to imitate and observe!

Do our kids have nature deficit disorder?

Listen in this Friday 1 PM Pacific, 4 PM Eastern, to hear World Ambassador for Family Randy Rolfe interviewing a leading nature education expert and author, Ellen Haas. Ellen will show you how important it is for our children's overall well-being, physical health, and mental development to get out in Nature! If you miss the show you can listen to the recording anytime or download it later to your portable device. Simply connecting with Nature has been shown to help with obesity, sleep, depression, anxiety, attention and focus problems, learning challenges, and more. Any parent can enlist the help of Nature!

Simply go to this link to get the details!

http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/54356/do-our-children-have-nature-deficit-disorder

Take Home Tip from five time author, family therapist, and longevity trainer Randy Rolfe: Send your children outside, even if they want to finish their video game or do some more texting or grab another snack. Send them outside without earphones so they can get not only the visual but also the the audio portion of Nature and let them tell you about any odors of Nature they detected. Let them play in sand, mud, or meadows. You will have a more cooperative child!