Communicating with your child will change across the milestones of their life from playing with toys, playing in the yard kicking a footy to helping them with home work and driving lessons.
No matter what the circumstance, it is very important to keep the line of communication open with your child, so you can have a good idea of how they are traveling emotionally, mentally and who their friends are, how they are going at school, and when they need help.
Here are some tips on building your relationship through interests and activities:
- Create one-on-one moments, use the time in the car to your benefit, driving to school, a sports event, picking up a friend, going to an event together.
- Talk with them about the activities they enjoy. Connect over shared interests. Some good ones are sport, cooking, fitness or music.
- Tell them about your day as well. Share any funny moments. They will enjoy hearing that you are not perfect.
- Find a new activity you can teach them or learn a new skill together.
- Follow a sporting team together, soccer, AFL, Rugby, as an example. You can watch the game together on TV, watch highlights, discuss at the dinner table, share a few stories or send article links to each other online.
- Dad weekends away, camping, bike riding, hiking, taking photos. Encourage them to bring another friend and their dad, these can be wonderful weekends, and will allow you to share some stories about your father and growing up as a teenager.
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