Connecting With Your Kids

Having two boys leaves me with a house full of cars, dinosaurs, lots of washing and a need for me to join in with their boy games!

What happens when they grow up that little bit, when your not so little one is now five and his interests are all about computer games. The things you once connected with are gone and now they look at you wanting for you to play their new favourite games with their rules. You are left feeling completely confused and have no desire to broom like a car or smash around the house like you are part of Mario Carts and Bowser has just taken over Luigi.

Is this all starting to sound like a second language...Believe me somedays I feel so far apart from my sons world that I have no idea how to merge back into his lane!

Today I took the plunge. I decided to get a connection with my son even if it meant that I had to sit down and play Mario on the wii (something I wouldn't normally do as it hurts my head). 

He was so excited that I said yes to playing that he could barely sit still. He talked the whole time, encouraging me when I fell of the track, letting me know what position I was in and alerting me to the fact that I has special powers that needed to be used now - Push the button MUM!!!

After two tournaments he kindly set me free and said that he is happy to play by himself now.

Giving him that 20mins of my full attention really wasn't that hard. That 20 minutes that made us have something in common. That 20 minutes showed him that I am there when he needs, that I am interested in what he loves and that I support his love for his game! 

The smile on his face when he looked at me confirmed that my desire to connect had been achieved...