Connect with Your Child

Recent studies witness eye contact and interaction with the kids as a vital tool for building bounds and connection for social development and learning. It suggests that eye contact is crucial for learning and social skills while declining it results in declining cognitive and social development. Eye connection and smile is the most powerful tool for socioemotional, language and cognition development of the child. Good parent-child communication and the quality of early interactions, especially maternal sensitivity plays a protective role in the development of the child (Pinheiro at all 2004, 2008). The child remembers for the rest of his/her life that s/he was important enough to her/his parents that they left the work and turned around to interact. As family therapist Virginia Satir famously said, “We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.” When we leave the home for work we should say goodbye and when are back and often in between reconnect with the child; make eye contact and smile, hug her/him and make her/him realize that you are there for him and you are with him. Kids like chatting more likely and are open to communicate. They want to hear their name. They want you to talk to them. This is where we reduce the distance and rebuild their confidence. It’s a safe way to hear what happened in the kid’s life today. This will give your child inner happiness and pleasure and will make him closer.

Making laughter a daily habit also gives your child a chance to laugh out the anxieties and upsets that otherwise make him feel disconnected. Similarly, listening is very important to make connections therefore it is very imperative that you listen properly. Listen and acknowledge feeling and don’t give up of habit of being closed with your child deepen your relationship with your child. Develop a routine of 15 to 20 minutes time your child separately everyday will provide you a chance to get yourself engaged physically with your child. It will give time of happiness through pouring your love into her/him directly; Try to involve the child in an activity or a game that gets her/him laughing such as Pee-Ka-Boo, hide and seek etc. Express your emotions of love and being happy with your child to make him/her feeling of care and connected. Let your child express his emotions this is an opportunity to help your child heal those upsets, which will bring you closer. So be compassionate enough and welcome the tears and fears that always hide behind the anger. Remember that you’re the one he trusts enough to cry with and breathe your way through it. Just acknowledge all those feelings and offer understanding of the pain. Afterward, he’ll feel more relaxed, cooperative, and closer to you.

Every interaction all day long is an opportunity to connect. Slow down and share the moment while doing things with him; help him and let him do some try for example pour water on his hands, encourage him to hold the glass in the hands, show his expressions, laugh with him, look at him in the eyes and show your big love and this is how we can encourage your child and develop positive connections. This may seem obvious, but most of the parents don’t do it.