The 9 Most Important Minutes of the Day to Help Bond Parents and Children
Many parents always complain that they do not have enough time to be close to and talk to their children. However, despite limited time, with 9 minutes a day, parents can still make their children happier.
The 9 minutes of the day that have the most influence on a child are divided into 3 time periods: the first three minutes of the day when the child wakes up; 3 minutes after the child comes home from school; and the last three minutes of the day before the child goes to bed.
Many parents struggle every morning to wake their children up on time for school. However, instead of nagging and screaming every morning, parents can make the first 3 minutes of the day more enjoyable.
Tickling your child’s armpits, kissing their cheeks, stroking their hair, snuggling them up and saying “I love you so much” are some of the gentle yet loving things parents can do for their children. Open your eyes and see that these loving gestures really mean a lot to even the most stubborn of children.
Starting a new day with loving gestures and increasing bonding will definitely make a child's day more wonderful than reminding and urging. That will make both children and parents feel heavy and tired every morning.
As soon as your child comes home from school, give him or her three minutes of pure joy. Parents can hug their child, talk to them about what happened during the day; what made them feel happiest during the day. Parents should ask open-ended questions and guide children with emotional words to express their thoughts.
These 3 minutes are really valuable to a child. They will learn how to share and connect with their parents. In addition, the child will not feel lonely because of not being cared for by their parents. Instead of "closing themselves" in their own world, the child will be open and eager to express loving gestures to their parents.
By maintaining this positive habit, parents will also receive positive changes in their children. They can openly share everything with their parents, and can even ask for advice or help from their parents when they encounter problems.
The last 3 minutes of the day is when children often recall what happened before going to sleep. Parents should not ignore this time.
Singing a song with your child, playing a simple game or scratching their back are all things parents can do during that time.
These 3 minutes are very valuable to every child. Parents can also use this precious time to resolve conflicts during the day. For example, say “I’m sorry for being a little angry last night when I yelled at you”, “I think your behavior just now was understandable. But I think you should be calmer next time”,… Thanks to that, the child will feel comfortable admitting his mistakes and together try to improve in the following days.
Of course, 9 minutes is not much in a 24-hour day. But these 9 important minutes are based on the basic foundation of love and sincerity that parents have built over a long period of time. The intimate gestures of love and the gentle, affectionate words will bring about extremely great changes in each child.
