Monthly challenges can be great fun. They help us improve our lives one little step at a time. Great changes take little bits of work over time. So I am pleased to bring you a month of ideas to help you improve your Torah parenting skills. I am excited to hone myself during the month of November, and I hope you will join me. Please take a little time to do the project each day and share your experiences with the rest of us each day. Some projects are fun, some are a little more serious. Enjoy!
Day 1 ~ Stop and listen to your children.
Your children are little people and they are worth listening to. Find out what is going on in their heads by just listening, on their terms, when they volunteer. You will learn far more in those spontaneous moments when you stop and listen, than if you try to set up a teachable moment.
When your child comes up to you today with something to share, drop everything, look them in the eye, and listen.
Be sure to tell us all about it in the comments!
Want more quick ideas to help you connect with your children? Sign up for my 10 second fixes printable. It’s filled with easy ways to start connecting with your children right now.
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Love this! this is what we do all day everyday! So many of our learning adventures come from the kids ideas and imaginations! looking forward to hearing about how this challenge went for others 🙂
That’s great! Today my kids were pretending to be birds, and building nests in the hay field. I’m so glad I took the time to listen to them tell me all about it. I could have missed so much!
And I love your new blog, too. 🙂
As I was reading this my child came up to me and i thought ok let’s do thid. Phone down. Isn’t it amazing when those things happen. Kids teach us so much when we take that time to listen.
Great job, Amy! The phone is my serious weak spot. I’m quicker to hide in the closet when I’m on the phone, but I’m working on it. 🙂
Heidi, I just stumbled upon this today ~ a day late…but something happened yesterday that was very relevant to this. My son has a severe speech disorder. He is 6 and he works very hard for every word that comes out of his mouth. Many times, people just “agree” with him for the sake of not taking the time to listen. I humbly admit I have done it once or twice myself, though I am usually his interpreter…so I understand more than most. Anyhow, last night at dinner my son asked me, “Mom, do you ever wish you didn’t have kids? Then you wouldn’t have messes, or have to homeschool us, or have to get mad at us?” Wow. It broke my heart. My husband was doing something else, so he wasn’t really listening…but I got the message loud and clear. It broke my heart. Something is lacking or off-balance in my relationship with the kids and I am taking it to Abba to seek his wisdom and guidance and healing in the situation. The worst part is that I remember asking my parents the same question when I was little, “Wouldn’t it have been better if I was never born?” I never ever want him to feel that way again. And I am so thankful that I took the time to listen and really decipher those words so that I could have a glimpse into his little heart. Anyway, I just thought this was the perfect place to share. I look forward to reading your posts the rest of the month 🙂 Shalom!
Reading this touched my heart. I am so glad you listened. My kids have said some pretty incredible things like that, too. It has helped me to reevaluate how I am parenting. Your blog name is very fitting. 🙂
Great challenge Heidi! Yah has been helping me in this area and I am much more ready to stop and listen now. I pray He continues to help me. Yesterday when I stopped and listened I heard from Ethan about the new characters he’d seen on the computer game he’d been allowed to play that morning. I heard from him later in the day about how he’d noticed that the pressure of the air held some cardboard inside a plastic container when he moved it quickly but there was not enough air pressure when he moved it slowly to hold the cardboard in place. I heard from Stass about Mrs March’s personality whilst she was re-reading Little Women. I heard from Liji about picture he had taken so long to draw yesterday and what he loved about our family read a loud. Man, I could have missed out on learning so much myself yesterday if I hadn’t taken the time to listen to those things from my beautiful kiddos.
Love to you Heidi,
Lus x
Ps: AMY BELL!!!! Hi!!!! So lovely to see you hear mate. I tried commenting on your blog recently but blogger told me there was an error and I don’t think it published my comment. Anyway, would love to reconnect with you lovely!
I came across this challenge a little late but I want to do it, so I’ll be starting day one tomorrow… this is awesome!!
I failed miserably! ive got 8 kids and between school, meals and cleanup ALL day, I only got to listen to a few full stories:-(
Thank you for this! It’s so good to be reminded. My little guy is still VERY little (9 months). But I’m curious to observe him that much more closely and listen to what he has to share – even without words quite yet ( He really talks a great deal for someone who can’t use words yet, so I guess it’s even more important to listen!) Not to mention he already understands SO much of what I say! Excited for day 2. Thanks!