Tuesday, May 22, 2012

♫ I second that emotion (interest) ♫

Interest is also of critical importance to our relationships with our children. My therapeutic work with children and families has repeatedly taught me this basic lesson: Children respond to our animated expressions of interest in their interests with evident pleasure. Children enjoy this interaction and they want more of it. 
As parents, our enthusiastic responsiveness to our children’s interests is the surest way to engage them in some form of meaningful dialogue or interaction, and a first principle of strengthening family relationships.
I hadn't considered interest as an emotion, but it does strike me as a useful mindset for approaching shared and un-shared interests with my children.

As soon as felt intrigued enough to think, "yeah, I'm down with that," the old Smokey Robinson & the Miracles song leapt to mind and I hoped music would be one of the kids' interests as well.





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