Need parenting advice to keep your cool this summer? Family therapist shares works with her kids
As kids wind down the last few days before heading back to school, a family therapist has this advice for parents: stay flexible during the rest of summer break, but communicate often with your kids.
(KXAN) -- As kids wind down the last few days before heading back to school, a family therapist has this advice for parents: stay flexible during the rest of summer break, but communicate often with your kids.
“My recommendation is that families get together, it doesn't have to be every day, but for some families, you make a game plan and you call it that," Dr. Erika Bocknek explained. "You talk about the general course of what the day is going to look like, but you make it clear through your language, ‘we stay flexible.’ Unexpected events come up and when they do we can handle them together."
Dr. Erika Bocknek helps families all over the country as a Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in the parent-child relationship and has intensive training in early child development.
One topic Dr. Bocknek suggests parents should not be so flexible about is waiting to talk about safety.
“Please think about this with older kids and teens who are going to be having a lot of autonomous time in the summer, have those hard conversations about all the things, like driving, the internet, sex, alcohol, drugs, conflict. You want your child just to have a little seed that they're thinking about and a good game plan for themselves about how to handle risky situations.”
As a family therapist and mom of three kids, Dr. Bocknek shared the best advice she has for families that she practices with her own:
“The number one thing that I've learned and that I want everybody to know is that relationships matter more than literally anything else. I don't behavior coach, because I am not concerned about the moment. I'm playing the long game, and I trust my children to grow and develop.”
“The stronger relationship I have with them, the more competent I can be that I'll get to play a key role in supporting, coaching, scaffolding alongside them as they navigate life's challenges.”