Every childhood expert agrees that having a strong emotional/social connection with your children is absolutely key to growing strong, healthy people. In order to really know your children, you must have an open line of communication; and the earlier you start the better.
Recent studies show that the toddler who feels heard and connected grows up to be a teen that is willing to open up and communicate more. Choose your timing. A preschooler who has been with 15 other children for several hours will probably feel over-stimulated and overwhelmed.
Don’t start interrogating him in the car on the way home! Let him decompress and relax back into the energy of his home. Maybe dinner time or bath time is a better choice.
Take out a wood puzzle and work on it together. When the focus is off the child he will open up and share his feelings and open ended questions won’t put him off.
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