You know, we’ve been raised in a very different world, with a very different parenting style. In the world where we grew up, there weren’t many resources or connections, so we had to be raised in a very strict and uptight manner. And “I told you so…” were taken in without any fuss. We did have an open channel of communication with our parents, but the conversation we had and that our kids wish to have with us today are worlds apart!
How Can We Create An Open Channel Of Communication?
So, when your child comes to you with a problem, instead of putting your train of thoughts aside and actually listening to them… don’t say, “I told you so…” I used to do this too, and as we all know, that doesn’t go exactly well.
Today’s kids need more of a friend in a parent. Doesn’t mean you have to be super friendly and chill. It just means you need to sit patiently and try to understand where they are coming from. I have learnt this and I call it the LCR method.
What Is The LCR Method?
- Listen
- Comfort
- Reassure
Listen to their problems or rants calmly and completely. Comfort them if required and advise only if asked. Then reassure, this is important. This makes them feel that they can come to you when they face a difficult situation. As a parent, you should be the first one your kid comes to when they have problems. They shouldn’t ever feel scared to do that.
I spoke about it in this time’s #TuesdayTalkWithKSP. You should give this method a try too!
Amrita Samant
Rati Ramadas Girish
Vaishnavi Venkatraman
