Top 10 Tips for Better Family Communication | Child Safety Articles | 4akid

Top 10 Tips for Better Family Communication

Here are 10 very interesting ways to communicate better within your family, thus making the home a better and happier environment.

1. Be a good role model. Congratulate when things are done right, express thanks when someone in the family has done something nice for you and say sorry when you have made a mistake.
2. Make time for your kids, even if you are busy. Sometimes kids want to talk when we are busy, but making time for them shows them their problems are important to you, and are not trivial.
3. Listen to your family members more than you talk. Look at everything, the whole picture, and take a step back, and you will be amazed at what you see and how different it is to what you originally thought. Ask more questions and give family members chances to open up like never before.
4. Watch our actions more than your words, as you could be saying something, but your actions mean the exact opposite. You could be saying you are listening, but in fact you are fixing your diary for the next week. Remember actions speak louder than words.
5. If you are angry or upset, give yourself a break and have a time out. Have a nice long bath, go for coffee with a friend or anything that helps you unwind. Communicate that you need time out, and then come back to talk afterwards. Talking when you are in a bad emotional state can cause many more problems then the actual problem at hand.
6. Give PRAISE as often as possible, as often as it is deserved. It can do wonders to relationships in the family, and makes everyone feel wanted, happy and appreciated.
7. Try your utmost to remain positive at all times as it helps with communication, as well as making the whole home environment more positive. Becoming negative and resentful stops positive communication and leaves real gaps in the family.
8. Always keep lines of communication open. Make sure your children know that they can talk to you about anything. When your children come to you with a problem don’t judge them or get angry with them, as then the next time they will not come to you with any problems. Communicate with LOVE, RESPECT and COMPASSION.
9. Always try deal with everything with empathy, and see things from different perspectives, as not everyone is the same person. Try to understand your child’s feelings and emotions and put yourself in that position. Also, let your child know there is usually more than one right answer and allow them to try come up with these themselves. Thereafter you can lead them in the right direction, after taking into account their views and feelings.
10. Encourage discussion with all your family members, and get them to share their own viewpoints, experiences and ideas. Encourage healthy debate, and allow everyone to get their voice heard, but ending off with pros and cons and a satisfying end to the debate, for eg: Everyone’s viewpoints are very valid, these are the pros and cons, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

[Some info taken from Tot2Teen April 2011]