http://dinghome.net/2010/04/06/point-1-be-approachable/ Reflections, stories, and thoughts from us. Exciting! Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:20:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://dinghome.net/2010/04/06/point-1-be-approachable/comment-page-1/#comment-22848 Musings of the Dings » Point 2: Play With The Kids Tue, 13 Jul 2010 04:43:12 +0000 http://dinghome.net/?p=1480#comment-22848 [...] Point 1:  Be Approachable Filed under: Parenting [...] [...] Point 1:  Be Approachable Filed under: Parenting [...]

]]> http://dinghome.net/2010/04/06/point-1-be-approachable/comment-page-1/#comment-21788 Lois Fri, 09 Apr 2010 17:48:31 +0000 http://dinghome.net/?p=1480#comment-21788 Mae, I'd love to know what you've learned. One of my other points is playing with your children and I'm sure your notes will come in handy. Mae,
I’d love to know what you’ve learned. One of my other points is playing with your children and I’m sure your notes will come in handy.

]]> http://dinghome.net/2010/04/06/point-1-be-approachable/comment-page-1/#comment-21756 Mae Wed, 07 Apr 2010 02:57:12 +0000 http://dinghome.net/?p=1480#comment-21756 Lois, great food for thought! It connects with some points I've been prompted to think about in the last month or two. If you're interested I can share some notes with you on something we've started with Abby called "special play time." I think it could be a concrete way to help a parent to get in the habit of making themselves approachable to their children from a very young age. The idea is that very young children (under 10) aren't fully able to articulate how they feel especially when dealing with things like loss, grief, fear, feeling overwhelmed, feeling overlooked, etc... Instead, they tend to work out their feelings by acting them out through play. The idea of special play time is to give mom or dad one on one time to "hear" what their children want to express to them through play. Parents use special play time as a time to listen (teaching can come later). It's meant to nurture a very private and safe space for even the very young child to share his feelings with his parents. It's very concrete and has specific how-to's. For example, there's a set time limit and particular types of toys that work better than others. Anyway, Abby and I have only done it a few times, but I think it will be very valuable as our family goes through a lot of transitions in the next year (and the inevitable grief & loss that comes with those). A counselor who came to our group conference this year presented these materials. Lois, great food for thought! It connects with some points I’ve been prompted to think about in the last month or two. If you’re interested I can share some notes with you on something we’ve started with Abby called “special play time.” I think it could be a concrete way to help a parent to get in the habit of making themselves approachable to their children from a very young age. The idea is that very young children (under 10) aren’t fully able to articulate how they feel especially when dealing with things like loss, grief, fear, feeling overwhelmed, feeling overlooked, etc… Instead, they tend to work out their feelings by acting them out through play. The idea of special play time is to give mom or dad one on one time to “hear” what their children want to express to them through play. Parents use special play time as a time to listen (teaching can come later). It’s meant to nurture a very private and safe space for even the very young child to share his feelings with his parents. It’s very concrete and has specific how-to’s. For example, there’s a set time limit and particular types of toys that work better than others. Anyway, Abby and I have only done it a few times, but I think it will be very valuable as our family goes through a lot of transitions in the next year (and the inevitable grief & loss that comes with those). A counselor who came to our group conference this year presented these materials.

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