Helping propel moms & dads of 3 to 13 year-olds to invest in their power-decade of parenting. Father of 3 teenagers and pastor of 20 years turned digital writer.
500 Fridays: Escape The After School Eye Roll
After School Eye RollβSo, How Was School Today?β You've likely asked your son or daughter that question at least once this week. You may have asked it a lot more. My guess is you got the same response as I always do. In fact, 90% of the time you get a giant eye roll, right? π Somehow, this has become the default parent question when kids first hop in the car. You haven't seen them in 7 hours and you're dying to know everything! It's time to reconnect, hear stories, engage in their life, learn about their friends, and find out all the good and the bad from their day. You want to know everything. And that's why they roll their eyes. It's amazing that we repeat the very things that used to drive us crazy as kids when we become parents, right? I want to share a better alternative and then let you know why it's better. It's tough to remember life as a kid in elementary or middle school. After all, it was a really long time ago. I crossed paths with my 11-year-old nephew the other day. He was fully engaged in a show. I wanted to know how his day was at school, but I knew he wouldn't actually open up and talk with me about it. So I made a choice to gamify my question.... "Hey bud, tell me how was school today?"β Then, I gave him three hand gestures to choose from:β Thumbs Up: ππΌ He looked up from the TV, gave me the mid-thumb gesture π€πΌ, and then went back to his show without saying a word. "Cool, kinda mid. Right on man," I responded. That was it. To be honest, that was good enough. We'd connected enough for me to know that he'd had a mid-day. Better than a bad one for sure. About 5 seconds later he looked up from the TV. "Do you want to know why?" (well, of course I wanted to know!)β His two-word answer: "ACT Aspire." And then we were off. We connected and were building even more.
Is this a foolproof plan, guaranteed to work on your kids every day? Of course not. But it's better, so much better, for you and for them. Here's why... 5 Reasons This Works
The best part is that small gamifications will work in countless other moments for your family too. See you next Friday, |
Power-Decade Parenting
Helping propel moms & dads of 3 to 13 year-olds to invest in their power-decade of parenting. Father of 3 teenagers and pastor of 20 years turned digital writer.
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