Take an Interest in their Interests

Parents, today I want to encourage you to take an active interest in those things that interest your children and teens. This is an easy one if you and your teen share the same interests. But what happens if you’re a left-brained parent raising a right-brained kid? We once heard a parent complain that his son didn’t share his love for canoeing. Consequently, he didn’t think there’d ever be anything he could do with his son. Sadly, it never crossed the frustrated father’s mind that he could enter into his son’s world and life by pursuing one of his son’s interests. Maybe we should all think about putting some of our own interests aside for a few years, so that we have more time to pursue the interests of our kids with our kids. Taking an interest in their interests not only allows us to spend much-needed time with our kids, but opens up opportunities to communicate, builds our relationship, and lets us discover and celebrate their gifts and abilities. Take an interest in their interests!