Now, as far as the parenting tip, I want to talk about giving children FEEDBACK.

It's important to remember that when you give feedback, your child's brain might perceive it as a threat and go into the fight or flight mode.

So we need to be careful not to put children on the defensive but rather get them listening, talking, and engaging.

So here're some useful tips on how to do that:

First, ask your child for PERMISSION to share your feedback. You can say something like:

“I have some information that might be helpful. How open are you to hearing it?”

This puts your child in control of the situation and they might be more willing to hear what you have to say.

Second, when you're giving them feedback, be sure to avoid saying “YOU”.

Instead of saying, “Here’s what YOU should do” or “Here’s what YOU need to improve”, say:

“Here’s what I would do.”

“Here’s what worked best for me.”

“I have found that when I try THIS instead, it can be beneficial. What do you think?”

Third, you can engage them in problem-solving and say:

"Would you like to look at this together to see how you can work it out?"

In this approach, your child keeps ownership of the challenge or problem and can gain lots of confidence from solving it (even with your help).

Let me know what you think about these strategies. I hope you give them a try to see how they work for YOUR child.

Have a wonderful week!