Lifelong learner hijacks Mom’s desk
Sometimes there’s a big gulf between adult goal-setting and the little bit we let our kids take part in. Reading this post about a child’s superior sales skills helped me think about the many ways we can improve our skills and connect with our kids at the same time.
Lots of families do homework together. What would happen if, instead of hovering over our kids to prevent the discomfort of error, we sat beside them, working on some of our own “medium concentration” tasks? What if we used the opportunity to consciously practice positive parental role modeling?
The next time the weather has you all stuck inside, why not try a family vision board session? Perhaps you could use it to plan a vacation or a holiday gathering. Or, have each person use it to plan a portion of the event and see how many you can incorporate. Either way, creating in the same time and space offers a wonderful opportunity to learn about each other… and the visuals can be a big help with communication.
A family ‘walk and talk’ after dinner gets everyone outdoors, away from the TV or computer screen and moving around a bit. And, if a more intense workout is needed, teens and tweens can be great accountability partners!
Want some help with meal planning and grocery shopping? Perhaps part of your team has great computer skills and can surf for coupons? Or maybe they can help use a site like All Recipes to find new uses for some of what’s hanging around in the pantry? In addition to (eventually) lightening your load a bit, this is a great way to share learning about what we eat and what we spend: choices they’ll be exercising every single day.
It’s impossible to overestimate the impact of childhood lessons — and especially the power of parental example — have later in life. And for those who have paired improving skills with having fun? That’s a “win” in anybody’s book.
##
Related articles
