Fun and easy ways to open up the communication flow with your children

Your currency to connections with your children is the level of the relationship you have with them!

To build strong relationships with your children takes time, patience, daily interactions, being emotionally available and giving unconditional love.

In the last blog post I talked about how to establish communication channels with your children with ease and joy, so in this blog post, I will be sharing how to make those connection process fun, interesting and joyful and it all starts from your long table! You long table, or part of the kitchen, is where it can all begin!

When were growing up, we used to help out in the kitchen, doing menial jobs like – washing the vegetables, separating the tails of bean sprouts etc…. Talking about bean sprouts… Let me share with my bean sprout "story".

First of all, I love bean sprouts don't get me wrong, it is a very versatile vegetable. But, what I dislike most of all has nothing to do with the bean sprout, but what I was expected to do with the "tails" of the sprouts – I had to remove / snap the "tails" off them – individually. Can you imagine when my mum/grandma bought a WHOLE bag of bean sprouts? That would have been hundreds of "tails" that had to be individually manually removed

After moving to Australia, I had never done it again, but I was only to be reminded of this ritual a few days ago when a family friend visited (my late mother in law's good friend). She sat there removing all the bean sprout tails, and surprisingly I sat down there and joined her. We started chatting while snapping off the tails together…

That got me thinking about connections, communications and interactions…

So here goes…Why I think this "tail" removing process is a great way to connect with not only yourself but with your family.

It is not about sitting down and doing the boring thing like removing the tips/tail etc, but it is about the "process" of it, like sitting down, quieting your mind, being present and focusing on what is on hand, who are sharing your space with you, being at the same level with your child, sharing the space together …

I remembered when I was sitting at the table nipping the tails off the bean sprouts, I actually had time to think, to focus and stop my mind from racing, while at the same time, really focusing on who is sitting next to me, what we were talking about and most of all, listening to the "gossip" of the adults but for your case – listening to what your children have to say without judgement or many interruptions.

Or sometimes, you would not even talk to each other and just be aware of the surroundings and being emotionally present … When you connect with your children on their emotioanl level, conversations will just flow. Give it a go!

So, using the principal of the bean sprouts – how can you create an environment where you can have pleasant conversations with your children and most importantly at their level?

Let's start at your long table! Example – your kitchen bench or dinning table or cofffee table.

Here are few simple and fun ideas are:

• Invite your children to the kitchen to help you with food preparation, such as chopping or washing the vegetables.
• Prepare food such as pizza, cakes etc together.
• Play board games, cards or puzzles.
• Work on school projects together

It does not matter what you do; it is all about creating the space to connect with your children, sharing and bonding with them over a shared experience, even for as little as 15 minutes. It is about the quality and not quantity!

Bonding and connecting are about shared experiences. It is about consciously making time, creating a safe space to nurture the relationships. Parents need to be emotionally present and attuned to their child's needs with unconditional love.

Wishing you a fun and happy day with your family.

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