Improving Your Relationship with Your Kids

Blog 5 in my series on improving your life in order to improve your finances focuses on your relationship with your children. The way you interact with your kids can have a lasting impact on both your finances and their own. If you have a stronger relationship with your child you can more easily teach them about finances, impart family values and wisdom, and give them the confidence to be financially successful themselves.

Here are some tips to start improving your relationship with your children:

• Choose your words wisely. Nothing can tear down a child like hurtful words, and nothing can build up a child for success more than encouraging words. Choose to use your words to daily build up your child. Those little words can give them the power to achieve big dreams. It is easy to slip into patterns of making negative comments or criticism, so be careful to watch your words and try to make a habit of encouraging and building up your child.
• Listen. Not only do we need to choose our words well, but we need to take the time to listen. Genuinely listening to your child’s thoughts, concerns, dreams, and ideas will help build a stronger relationship. Your child will have a supportive ally, and you will get to really know your child.
• Spend time with them. Children learn early that time = importance. The more you make time to spend with them, the more they will see you value them – and the more they will then value themselves. The time you take to spend with your children is also time that you can teach them values, character, money management skills, relationship skills, etc.
• Let them be a part of the family finances. Teach your children about how you budget and why. Let them have some say in the family finances – that’s not to say they are in control, but give them a little room to help. If your family gives a donation during the holidays, let your child choose where that money will go and why. Giving your children some say in the finances will show that you have faith in them and value their opinions, and it will help them learn early on about good money management.

So go give your kids a hug and tell them that you love them. Start working daily on improving your relationship with them and watch for ways that it impacts the family finances. Instead of butting heads so much, maybe you will start to see that you can work together and see great results!

Tags: children, family finances, finances, kids, relationships