Raising a Good Listener

683 words, including sidebar of listening games

Ask moms how to raise a good listener, and you’ll be met with a variety of responses. Some, like Eva Gavin, will laugh out loud and say, “If you write about kids who ignore their parents all the time, I’m your woman.” Others may tell you they have it all together and that their children always listen to them and do everything they say (don’t trust these women!).

So many of us are at a loss when it comes to teaching listening skills. Parents are busier than ever, and that can sometimes make it difficult to just stop and listen to our children. Yet making sure you raise your child to be a good listener is crucial for many reasons. For example, he needs to be able to follow directions at school, in college and at a job. He also needs the practiced skill of listening to make and keep friends, snag a spouse and deal with a variety of people in everyday life.

So how do you become one of those moms whose children don’t tune her out?

1. Humor works wonders. Tresa Cope says, “When I want to get my 4-year-old’s attention, I randomly insert the word ‘chocolate’ into whatever I’m saying. As in, ‘put your chocolate shoes on, NOW, please’. Sometimes he giggles at my misuse of the word; sometimes he makes me pay up with chocolate-covered raisins.”

Contact me at mommykerrie@yahoo.com for the rest of the article (6 tips total plus sidebar of listening games) for your review and/or purchase.