What kids want to share, but do you ask?
The dining table meeting. I would hop on to the table as soon as I would reach home from school. My hands would be busy in taking off the socks, loosening my tie, and my hands flying all around me as I animatedly described the day’s events to maa. Every day, I so much wanted to narrate what happened at school.
I would tell her about my teachers, the math period I hated, what my friends confided in me, what that snob did, how did the bully act, what we gossipped about during lunch break, how we had fun during that funny teacher’s class, so on and so forth.
She would listen patiently, making all the correct noises that an exceptional listener should make. Noises like, “Ahaa, Oh, Hmmm, Arre waah, Really, Oh no, etc. She would then ask questions to nudge me into deeper sharings. These settings with mom were like therapy. They fixed all the parts that were damaged or worn out in facing the daily challenges of school.
My mom would sit there with me for a good half an hour and humbly soak in my simply complicated school life. I don’t know if they ever helped my mom in ANY way. Because of these dining table chats, we bonded and she became my best friend forever (bff). This video tells us why such form of simple attention is important for our kids.