So, lets talk about our children’s time today. Now more than ever our children are exposed to an adult world where every minute is planned, or the opposite they are left on a side to just adjust and entertain themselves following the parent’s lifestyle.
Let’s establish first that in a family, life cannot be child-centered neither adult-center. There must be a balance. That been said, when it comes to kids the balance has two ends. One is the busy exhausting schedule where parents feel they need to “keep them busy”. On the other hand there is the lazy idea that they will only hang around while parents do their chores without noticing the kids needs.
On the first case. Children end up exhausted, they are usually only functional if they get directions on what to do. We will repeatedly hear from them: “what do we do now?” They do not develop creativity because they depend on adults to tell them what to do. Also, If they are always with the presence and involvement of an adult, they do not develop the capacity of relating. This is called emotional intelligence, the capacity to define, control and express our emotions; also the ability to handle relationships. This capacity, like any other is achieved with the independent practice and guided with the respective instruction.
There are also the children who run under the boring clock of the adult life. Because, let’s be true to ourselves, most of us get excited only with the idea of laying on a sofa. We crave for the indoors where the a/c or a warm blanket and a good book completes the peaceful moment. Kids unlike us adults, are full of energy and eager to discover therefore, we need to have plans. Going outdoors, move from the tv to run, jump, get noisy, and more is a natural matter to every child. Learning by living, is necessary in the process of cause and effects in real life. In other words, what will happen if they walk through that or this, some of those lessons will include a visit to the ER and that is part of life.
So balancing both extremes. Let’s raise children with action and learning experiences, planned by us, with the interference of adults leading; and children with action and learning experiences created by themselves on their spear of time.
Till we meet again, let me know what challenges have you faced trying to balance family and specifically kids time.
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