4 Tips For Making Children Open With Parents

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JAKARTA - Not all children can be open with their parents. They do not necessarily want to tell what happened outside the house. In fact, the openness of children is important for parents. By always listening to their children, parents will have key information to know their child's development. In addition, parents are also easier to enter emotionally to direct children.

Dr. Ron Taffel, Ph.D., parenting expert and author of Nurturing Good Children Now provides several ways parents can get their child to open up and engage in active conversation with them.

Focus on simple conversation

If you have free time with your child, this is an opportunity to talk and make them feel more comfortable. Pay attention to the opening theme of your conversation. Make it as interesting as possible so that the child focuses on responding to it.

The way you respond to your child's response is very important in building closeness. This is an opportunity for them to see if they can count on you to talk and listen when they need it.

Always there for the kids

Some children take longer to open up to their parents. When they refuse to talk, accept it but don't let it go away. Your presence is still needed by the child. If you are always present, your child will think you care about them. And gradually, open communication between the child and you.

Start with you

To get kids to open up, you don't have to start by asking them questions to answer. You can tell about your day first. Just tell me that today your boss scolded you and you had a fight with your colleague. That might sound like something negative.

However, parents also have problems and are not always perfect. Instead, it will make the child more confident to open up. They will tell about their day too like fighting with friends and other problems.

Be patient and give the child space

There are children who have a personality that does not like to talk. For this reason, parents need to create a good atmosphere so that children do not feel pressured to speak. Every child is just starting to learn to recognize emotions and how to handle them. Give them time and space to feel strong or comfortable enough to talk to you about how they feel. When ready, the child will come to you alone to start a conversation.