Talk to me

I was reminded today of the value of basic communication. We live in a world of acronyms, texting shorthand and impersonal communication. Between the LOL's and IDK's I get from my kids, I wonder if, as parents we are really stop to hear what our children have to say. I have been known to text my own children rather than walk up stairs and talk to them.

Most of us already know that communication is lacking in the parent-child relationship, but texting my kids when I could be having a conversation; writing notes on their Facebook walls or saying hello and running off to my man-cave really don't solve the larger problems in life.

When my son graduated from college we started having lunch together once a week. When he was in high school we would talk every night and now that he is on his own and taking on the world, I cherish those conversations more than ever. Today I had lunch with my daughter. The original design was to talk about college, her future, but it struck me just how much it means for her to tell me about her day, her friends, some crazy new song, or whatever it is on her mind.

When our children are teenagers they don't think we listen to them (maybe because we often don't listen to them). We are too busy with a hundred other things to hear some silly story about a friend getting stuck in the bathroom stall, or their unique views on politics and religion. We want them to stop, to listen to us, to show respect in an evnironment where they don't feel genuinely loved.

I am not suggestion life with our kids is all warm fuzzies. They need discipline, order, respect, but ultimatley they need to know they are loved. That happens when we stop just long enought to ask, "what is on your mind today."