The 3-Minute Rule That All Parents Should Follow
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Have you ever considered how much quality time you spend with your kids after work? You may think you spend a lot of time with your kids but the truth is that quantity doesn’t always amount to quality. When you think back you may find that you haven’t had a meaningful conversation with your child in a while. Most parents are under the impression that this takes a long time to do as their kids are always distracted or because they are always pressed for time. But is that true? It takes 30 minutes to make dinner and maybe 15 minutes to read a chapter of your favorite book. But did you know you only need 3 minutes to develop a strong relationship with your child? Here’s everything you need to know about the 3 minute rule and why it’s the perfect solution for busy modern day parents and ensures that your kids stay connected to you throughout their lives!
What Is The Three-Minute Rule?
The idea of this rule is to basically greet your child as if you’ve been reunited with them after a long period, although you had just stepped out for 10 minutes to buy some groceries. This might seem excessive to you but it can help your child feel like you truly care about what they get up to. Showing interest in your child will build their self confidence and self esteem.
It is also important that you lower yourself, level with your child’s eyes and spend at least 3 minutes hugging them and letting them tell you everything they observed in your absence. Showing how concerned you are about their day and experiences will help them trust you more. It is all the more fundamental to adhere to this rule when you come back home from work or go to pick your little one up from school.
Why Is This Rule So Important?
Have you ever noticed how your kids are bursting with information the second you walk through the door? It’s almost as if they have been waiting for you to come home so that they can tell you everything about their day that they consider important in the first couple of minutes. This can be overwhelming for parents and they often tell their children to give them space so they can recuperate before spending time with them, but what they don’t realize is that they are missing out on a great opportunity to bond with their children.
The consequences to not embracing and listening to your kids in those first 3 minutes may vary from child to child. For example, a child who usually does not get to share what they want to when they seemingly have the opportunity will stop talking about various important things over a period of time. Sometimes children will start to look at their own life experiences as silly and won’t consider them worth their parents’ time. This leads to parents missing out on something important or even something harmful that is happening to their child.
However, other children may have the opposite reaction. They might spend all day talking without any pause, recalling new details every time they restart the story. This too will not have the desired effect as in the end, parents will learn to block them out and their children will simply be reduced to the noise in the background.
Additional Tips For Practicing The 3-Minute Rule
Keep in mind that the three minute rule does not suggest that you only spend 3 minutes with your kid everyday. It simply implies you must spend at least 3 minutes with the child immediately upon meeting them, giving them a space to share everything that’s excited them in your absence. Children are prone to getting distracted and forgetting the things they want to tell you, so let them say their piece first.
There are some other things you can do along with this rule to ensure that you and your little one have an unbreakable bond that will last a lifetime. Make sure you spend some time in the evening doing an activity your child likes together. Maybe it’s playing a board game or finishing the word puzzle of the day. Even a 5 minute ritual makes all the difference. While you do this you can get back to topics your child shared with your previously. Ask them questions about it and ask them to elaborate certain details that are unclear to you. This is how you stay in the loop with your child’s life and how they know that you are really listening to them and interested in their life.
Raising children is not an easy job. Balancing all your adult responsibilities and still connecting with your kids can be hard to juggle at times. The 3 minute rule is a quick and easy way to ensure that your children know that you love and care for them even on those tiresome days when you don’t have the energy to do much else. Would you use this trick? Let us know in the comments section!
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