Most parents want to develop a close, lasting bond with their children that goes beyond the years a child lives in the home.  Having a relationship with children that transcends time begins early in a child’s life as the heart of the child bonds with the heart of the parent.

Here are a few tips to help you connect with your children:

• Choose activities to do together that they enjoy.  It’s a great plus if they enjoy your hobbies, but you will have better success in connecting if you do the things with them they enjoy most. Don’t try to create a clone of you. Learn to love their activity.
• Don’t force yourself on your children. As children get older and develop outside interests, do not be the parent who always has to tag along.  Be there if you are invited, but allowing your children some freedom to explore.
• Remain accessible to your children, even during busy or stressful times.  Children cannot handle or understand stress the way adults can. They just know when they want or need their parents.   Make sure you are available as much as possible when the desire strikes them.
• Communicate on their level and with their interests.  Understand the language of their age and learn about the things they have interest in doing.
• Learn to love their friends.  This will show that you value their choices in friends and relationships.
• Be patient with them.  They should not be expected to have the maturity of an adult yet.  They will make mistakes and will not always make the decisions you want them to make.

None of these are excuses to give children everything they want or to allow them to set the standards for your home. For more on my parenting philosophy here read other posts under the category of PARENTING.  Connecting with children in a way that lasts beyond the years they must connect with you, however, begins early in the child’s life and takes a consistent effort on the part of the parents.

What ideas or ways can you add to build a lasting connection with children?

Related posts:

1. Building Right Foundation for Children
2. Three Easy Parenting Principles
3. 10 Steps to Raising Generous Children, Part 3
4. 10 Principles of Healthy and Effective Discipline for Children
5. An Important Parenting Concept: Especially for Parents of Young Children