Thursday, December 6, 2007

Filling the Emotional Cup

http://www.happynews.com/news/10232007/unexpected-benefits-family-dinners.htm

That's a link to an article on Happy News.com.
It talks about the benefits of eating dinner at least three times a week with your kids.
Duh.

I recently went to a parenting workshop and a police officer there said that if you don't fill their emotional cup at home they will go elsewhere to fill it.
That makes perfect sense. I knew it, I just didn't think about it in those terms.
I love my kids and they are at ages that they are fun and they still like me.

I'm not their friend, but we do play together. We laugh in stores. We play Wii games together. We connect at the dinner table. Sometimes I need to feed the kids first, but I am always in the room and mostly at the table while they are eating.
How else will I know what is going on in their lives? Nothing worse than getting to the parent-teaher conference and being blindsided because you had no idea your kid was failing. Can't imagine that.

I know we're all busy. All of us, but we need to connect with our kids. Stay in their lives. I thought they needed me so much when they were in diapers, but now they need me for bigger things. And not just money. Compassion, support, guidance, discipline. It's a big bad world out there and our kids need a place where they know what will happen.
I know because I didn't grow up in a house where I knew what would happen. So I've worked hard on being consistent and making their home a safe place. Physically and emotionally.

So the next time you can sit down with your kid.
Do it.

Parents are truly the anti-drug.
cmr