The Importance Of Dialogue In The Family
One of the customs that a family should never lose is dialogue; you have to try to encourage and promote it every day. Dialogue favors important values such as communication, tolerance towards others and the ability to admit mistakes.
Through dialogue, parents and children have the opportunity to get to know each other better. They can exchange opinions and verbalize their problems. If we talk to our children, they can tell us what worries them; we too can try to help them.
The important thing is to try that the dialogue does not become a monologue from parents to children. They also have to put forward their opinions and ideas. If you are against what we are telling you, you must have the opportunity to respond to us in a climate of freedom and tranquility.
Encourage dialogue in the family
All children need their parents to talk to them and also to be listened to. With our attitude, they notice if we want to know their problems or not. A listening attitude is basic in a family; For the children, this is the center of their whole life, their example and their reference.
Therefore, the first thing parents have to offer is our constant listening. If at that moment we are working or doing something important, we have to place them for later. It is necessary to try to make the children feel that we always have time for dialogue.
If parents start the dialogue from a position of authority, be sure it will not work. On the contrary, the elders should put themselves in the role of the children; they have to understand your feelings and problems.
However, the limits must also be made clear. They are not talking to their friends; they cannot treat us as if we were their colleagues. We are their parents and we want to dialogue with them, but that does not mean that they forget their manners and education.
Tips to encourage family dialogue
Although it seems easy, it is often difficult to create an atmosphere of dialogue in the family. The first reason is lack of time; today we have few moments a day to talk and dialogue.
Family members spend most of the day working or at school, but it is essential to also find a time for dialogue. For example, it could be dinner or another time when you are all together. You can talk about how the day went and establish a dialogue on some relevant topic.
Nor should you be tiresome and ask your children all day if they have a problem. You just have to always maintain that listening attitude. If every day we promote a time for dialogue, surely young people will seek that daily moment to tell about their problems as a family.
Dialogue problems
Many times, children are overwhelmed with so many questions from parents and their response is silence or evasive answers. This is usually the consequence of establishing monologues instead of dialogues with our children.
Both parties have to participate in the dialogue. Parents have to remain silent when children intervene. If we give them a speech or a scolding every time they trust us, in the end they will only agree with us . As they get older, children will tend to keep quiet about what they think might spark a controversy.
With this counterproductive attitude, children will believe that parents just want to impose their ideas and do not listen to their opinions. At that point, the dialogue is most likely broken. We have surely made the mistake of not listening to our children.
As much as in conversations we have a purpose, we should not impose our idea from the beginning . We have to listen to them, give them examples and know their opinions from a position of dialogue.
The first value children have to acquire is confidence in their own opinions. Although in the end they change their argumentation, they have to know at all times the reason why they have done it.
Don’t forget: dialogue is very important for any family. It involves the possibility of promoting values such as the ability to listen, tolerance or trust. It also requires that we practice it every day as a family, looking for an ideal moment to speak and listen.
