When planning for a summer of success, be sure to have a strategy for winning the hearts of your children!
WHO HAS YOUR CHILD’S HEART?
Is it their peers, the media, or YOU? There is a battle raging for the hearts of our children, and we need to recognize that.
It is important that you plan to purposefully and passionately pursue their hearts because the one who has their hearts is the one who holds a place of major influence in their lives.
Anything this important need to be intentional and a solid strategy for winning the hearts of your children is just what you need to get started!
How are your relationships with your kids? Do you tend to focus more on what they do wrong, getting their school work done, or doing their chores?
While it is easy to focus on those things, it is important to intentionally take time to spend quality time with your children. They need to know that you like them and enjoy spending time with them.
The more time you spend with them in purposeful activities and communication, the closer they will feel emotionally, which makes them feel it is safe to open up and share their thoughts with you and open up their heart to you.
This is something that our kids always looked forward to, and really enjoyed. We planned simple activities such as playing games, baking together, a trip to the ice cream store, etc.
Planning a whole evening just for spending time doing fun things with them, tells your kids they are important to you and that you like being with them.
2. Treat them with respect and honor.
It is easy to get into a harsh drill sergeant mode with our children and bark out orders at them.
How much better it is to treat them with the respect we would like to receive.
It is simple to add “please” to a request and say “thank you” when they help. This makes kids feel more appreciated and loved.
Plan for extra time for chatting at bedtime. Often that is when kids will open up about their day and share their hearts with you.
After chatting, pray with them. Praying together brings unity and closeness unlike anything else can do.
Often we are distracted and don’t really pay attention to what our children are saying. Stop what you are doing when they want to talk, and look at them. That tells them that what they have to say is important to us.
Show an interest in the things that they are excited about, and ask them questions about that topic. This will lead to long conversations that will make it easier for them to share their deeper thoughts with you.
Dinner time should be the highlight of the day for your family. We often would sit around the table after eating and talk and laugh with our kids for a while. Those times are some of their favorite memories.
While we do need to correct wrong behavior and work on building Godly character in our children, it is vital that we balance that with lots of encouraging, affirming words.
When was the last time you told your child something you like about him or something he did that pleased you?
Strive to affirm your kids on a daily basis, and watch them blossom and grow.
It is way too easy to get caught up on Pinterest or social media, and not be aware of what our kids are saying or doing. Electronics can be such a BIG distraction!
Have set times to check your social media or browse Pinterest, but make sure it’s not when you are with your kids.
Turn off notification sounds so you won’t be tempted to grab your phone and look every time an email comes in, or someone comments on a post or picture you shared. This will help you to be more present with your kids and shows them that they are important to you.
How do you express how much you love your child? Hug your kids, tickle them, rub their back, tousle their hair, etc. Kids never get too old for this. Teens need to be hugged, even though they may act resistant to it at times.
Always hug your kids before they leave, when they come home, and at bedtime!
Create strong heart ties and learn 15 things to do as a parent to keep the relationship strong.
4 Responses
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Hi Beth! So glad you enjoyed the article, and that you are going to focus on winning your child’s heart this summer. I hope you were encouraged through the Homeschool Conference, and glad that it brought you to my site. 🙂
Thank you, Kathie for a great article! So true, if we lose our child’s heart, someone else/the enemy will find it, and quickly lead them away from the Lord and the values you hold dear. I’m planning on using the extra time in the summer to focus on exactly that. I’m so glad I found your website from the Homeschool Conference last week and looking forward to your book arriving soon on character building.