Parenting can be stressful and as parents we’re all tired and over-stretched these days. But I have always believed that as parents we should be able to spend quality time with our kids because this is one of the best times you get to enjoy the true reward of parenting; namely, what one of my favorite parenting authors has referred to as “a modest salary package of joy, laughter and affection.”
That’s what we get paid for a parenting job description that goes something like this, according to Michael Grose:
“You must be a kind, considerate person”… “This position requires a competent self-starter with excellent communication skills”…”Must be able to provide an atmosphere of love and support”…”The ability to be adaptable and flexible is essential”…“A willingness to put yourself second is required.”
And we haven’t mentioned “cooking, cleaning, teaching, nursing, social-working, psychology, conflict resolution, driving, buying, selling, managing, entertaining, general administration and washing the dog.”
Telling kids stories enables you to do all of that in a way that gives your kids “the coat hooks on which your kids will hang their memories of you”, again according to Michael Grose – and you don’t need any specialist training to do this!
Parent-narrated stories can facilitate parent-child bonding; they can help parents teach positive behaviors to their kids; and they can help develop children’s emotional intelligence, which has been said to be more critical to a person’s success in life than Intelligence Quotient, IQ – plus, kids find them irresistible and lots of fun!
The holidays give us working parents especially a short window in which we can greatly deepen our relationships with our families; with our children (also cheaply and fast). And one way to do this is through telling stories to your kids.
With personal stories of our childhoods we have an opportunity to give to our kids and loved ones free but super-powerful entertainment they cannot get from Netflix, Disney, Amazon and all these currently “traditional” sources of entertainment, such as TV and the movies.
Make your children’s holidays special this year – and create lasting memories for years to come. Storytelling is something any parent can do, even if you never stood up to speak before an audience your entire life – because you’ll be among family and loved ones!
You’ll discover:
- How stories can help deepen the bond you have with your child or children
- How stories can help develop your child’s emotional intelligence. Experts say that “How you do life is how your child will do life.” Telling stories helps parents boost their own EQ, which they then model for their kids.
- Why kids love these childhood stories narrated by their moms or dads – your kids will be begging, “Just one more story, please!”
- I will give you story prompts that tap into an almost inexhaustible source of great stories to tell from your childhood that are entertaining for kids and that help them discern what the emotions they experience on a daily basis mean – so that they can move on to the next age-appropriate developmental challenges.
How to tell stories to children is a skill every parent should aspire to learn in this information age, where electronic devices are crowding us out of our children’s lives and living spaces.
