By Robert Najemy

Wants to go to the movies
More Effective Communication with Children - Part 5

Robert Elias Najemy

A CHILD WANTS TO GO TO THE MOVIES

A child keeps pleading to be taken to a movie, but has not cleaned up his room for several days, a job, which he agreed to do.

What might be an average type of communication? An average parent may call the child lazy, irresponsible and inconsiderate.

An I-message in this case might be something like this:

"My child, sit down. I would like to express to you how I feel at this moment. There is conflict within me: on the one hand, I love you and want you to be happy. I want you to be able to enjoy that which makes you happy. I would like to take you to the movies, so that you might enjoy yourself. On the other hand, I feel cheated and that an injustice has been done, because we have made an agreement that you would clean your room, and you have not kept it. That makes me feel that you are not respecting our agreement and my need for your room to be clean.

"I also have another need, which is to feel that I am bringing you up in the proper way. When I see that you are not taking your word and your responsibilities seriously, I have doubts as to whether I am doing a good job and whether you will be able to function well in society, if you are not keeping your word. So I cannot bring myself to take you to the movies until you keep your word and clean up your room".

The parent may then lead into active listening with something like, "How do you feel what I have just said to you? Does it seem fair? Do you feel hurt? Would you like to talk about it?"

Also, the parent may take this opportunity to discuss with the child the factors that have prevented him from cleaning up his room.

"From the fact that you have not cleaned up your room, I get the idea that you do not like to do that job. Is there some special reason for that? Do you feel that it is unfair that I ask you to do that? What do you think would be a fair way to handle this situation? Have you some suggestions as to how we can overcome this source of tension between us?"

I can hear some parents who are reading this saying to themselves, "My child will never understand these explanations". My personal experience is that any child over two years old can understand the intent behind this communication and will feel the parent¢s respect, love and concern through it, and will feel the same for the parent.

THE BLARING STEREO

A child is playing her CD¢s so loud that the parents in the next room cannot communicate with one another.

An angry parent may likely say, "Can¢t you be more considerate of others? Are you deaf? Why do you play that so loud?"

Would we talk that way to our neighbors if they were playing the music that loud? Would we talk that way to our colleague, our boss or our friends? Do we have the right to speak demeaningly to our children just because we think they belong to us? Imagine how you would politely communicate with a neighbor who was playing music loudly (especially if he is physically bigger than you are).

Remember that the key to effective communication is that we neither suppress ourselves nor the others. We respect both our needs and those of the others. So, we are not going to put up with the music, but neither are we going to hurt the other¢s feelings.

An example in this case might be as follows:

"Maria, could you please turn down the music for a moment? I would like to tell you something which is very important to me. I have conflicting needs. My need for you is to be happy and not to feel suppressed. I also do not want to be in a state of conflict with you because when I am, I do not feel at all well; and neither do you.

"On the other hand, I cannot tolerate the high volume which you were just playing your music. Your father and I are trying to talk in the next room and we cannot hear each other because of the music.

"I also have the need not to bother the neighbors, just as I would not like them to bother us. I would like to keep up good relationships with them. I ¢m afraid that the loud music may be bothering them. For that reason I ask you to please cooperate on this matter and play the music at a lower volume or perhaps you could wear headphones and enjoy the music at the volume you prefer, while we have peace".

Then the parent might want to lead into active listening as to how the child feels about that message. "How do you feel about what I ¢m asking you to do? Do you feel suppressed or unhappy? I hope we can find a way for both of us to be happy. Tell me your feelings".

This method of communication is much more likely to encourage willful cooperation from the child, while respect between parent and child is mutually maintained.

Although we feel great love for our children, we are often unable to communicate that love, because of a lack in communication skills. We mean well; but our own problems and fears get in our way and disrupt our communication with our children.

If you would like to receive a free email course with 16 messages concerning how we can help our Children, Send in an email to the following address to get one message each week on Life's Lessons for 16 weeks. communicatingchildren@GetResponse.com

-----------------------article ends----------------------- ****************************************** Robert Elias Najemy is the author of over 600 articles, 400 lecture cassettes on Human Harmony and 20 books; sold over 100,000 copies. His book The Psychology of Happiness is available at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0971011605/holisticharmo-20 and http://www.HolisticHarmony.com/psychofhappiness.html. You can download FREE articles and e-books and get guidance at http://www.HolisticHarmony.com ******************************************

About the Author

Robert Elias Najemy who is the author of 20 books which have sold over 100,000 copies. He is the founder and has been the director of the Center for Harmonious Living in Athens, Greece for the last 26 years. The center has a membership of 3000 clients and 600 students. He has lectured over 25,000 hours and has worked with around 20,000 persons through personal appointments, classes and seminars. He has produced over 500 cassettes and videocassettes with an abundance of information or human harmony. He is not a psychologist, nor a doctor but rather a chemical engineer who gave up his profession 35 years ago in order to study human nature and all aspects of human health, happiness, harmony and spiritual development. He has a certificate in Counseling from the Counseling & Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (UK) and certificates as a practitioner of three forms of Energy Psychology; specifically Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), Tapas Acupuncture Techniques (TAT) and Thought Field Therapy (TFT). Robert has developed a six-year self-knowledge seminar which is taught at his school and has also been recorded on 200 acoustic and videocassettes and is thus available in other cities. He has trained more than 250 life coaches, 50 of whom now work with him in Athens, Greece and other affiliated centers around Greece and Cyprus. His site is www.HolisticHarmony.com

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