Helping Your Kids

January 08, 2013

I happened upon a treasure in the Library the other day. I’m sure you’re not surprised, or maybe you’re saying something like, "Sure, but isn’t treasure in the eye of the beholder?" And I would have to respond by saying, "Probably, but this one you really all might find great!"

I don’t have kids. I don’t plan to have kids for a really long time. But working around kids and having a niece, I found The Mindful Child to be really enlightening on helping them grow, as well as allowing me a little introspection on how I can be a little more mindful of myself.

The first thing I noticed in this book was the language. It was not how Susan Kaiser Greenland wrote the book that caught my attention. Though her style is light and educational, it was her suggestions on how we phrase our words with kids, as well as each other as adults, which can really influence the meaning whether we intend that meaning or not. In one exercise, called the Hello Game, she describes how to help your child gain confidence by making eye contact through saying "hello, your eyes look blue" or whatever color the child’s eyes appears to be at that time. I found myself doing this in my head and found it even easier to make eye contact with people all day. It changes this semi-frightful, awkward act of making eye contact to a game of observation. The cool part is the phrasing of the words. Instead of "your eyes are blue," Susan emphasizes to the reader that we keep the word look instead of the form of to be as we’re making observations and not analyzing.

Overall, this book is a great find for any parent, or soon-to-be parent, to help their kids be confident and happy. This book is also for anyone that wants to become more confident in general.

~Cody C.
Parkville Branch