Was I Talking To You??

This is a new portion of my blog I will call "Parenting Pearls" - these are ideas that Cam and I did with our kids and if we had to do it all over again, we would do exactly the same thing. So here we go:

When someone would ask our kids a question we would allow our kids to answer them. I know this sounds simple, but think about how many times we answer for our kids.

"What's your name?'
"umm"
"Her name is Susie"
"Oh, how old are you?"
"ummm"
"Tell the lady you're 5"
Well, YOU just did.
Kids need time to process the question being asked them and when we jump in and answer for them, we aren't doing them any favors.
Also, shy kids need that practice of interacting with adults. I had a shy kid - If he wanted something from the store, I would make him go to the counter and ask how much it was. I tried to create situation where this person would have to speak up - it worked wonders. Also, I had 3 others who were more than happy to answer for them, so I encouraged them to let their sibling speak!! There was a time when we had a talking spoon at dinner so everyone got a chance to talk -not just the loudest.

When I talk to kids at school or church I try to get right down on their level, usually kneeling, look them in the eye and talk (kind of ignoring their mom and how "Bobby" is just shy) and do you know what happens -
Bobby answers me.

It's hard as parents to allow our kids to blossom - we want them to shine and we think that awkward pauses or marble mouth speech will make them look bad - it won't!! If we keep answering for our kids all they learn is Mom/Dad are a better speaker than they are and if they wait long enough they'll do all the talking.

So that's my "pearl" for the day - do with it what you wish!