Relationship with the child

As children grow, they gradually expand their range of activities. When they are in their parents' boundaries, they rely on their parents for everything, making the parents' words absolute. This period has fewer conflicts. As the child grows older and their range of activities expands, they no longer depend entirely on their parents. They start to get various information from different sources, moving away from their parents' influence and developing their own opinions.

 

This is where conflicts with parents begin.

From the parents' perspective, it's frustrating to see a once-obedient child suddenly responding with "No" or "I don't want to." On the other hand, the child cannot understand why their parents keep imposing their opinions.

 

Naturally, parents should yield. As the child changes, parents need to adapt. However, this is not easy because the child changes so quickly that it is challenging for parents to keep up. When parents can't keep up, they should use other means to stay connected with their child. One way is to create shared hobbies or topics of conversation.

 

 

Recently, my child mentioned an anime called "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba". They heard about it from friends at school and wanted to watch it too. I checked and found it was rated 19+ for the series and 15+ for the movie. I decided that the movie would be appropriate and allowed my child to watch it on the condition that we watch it together on the weekend. On the weekend, my child woke up early, completed their homework without being asked, and even tidied the sofa so we could watch it together. Although it was nearly two hours long, we watched it together, and I explained things along the way.

 

It's been a month since, but my child still talks about it. He enjoyed the anime, but more importantly, he appreciated that his dad shared and empathized with something he liked.

Watching sports together, reading books they like, or playing the same games could also be good ways to connect.

 

We used to watch "Pororo" together, and more recently, we played Pokémon games. Once their interest in "Demon Slayer" wanes, I’ll need to find another topic to share.