Kids are expensive. I’m not talking about money. That’s one thing you hear all the time. Lots of people will tell you about the cost of having kids, from grocery bills to child care to healthcare and of course, college tuition. The people who usually insist that kids cost so much are so often not actually parents. As a parent, you begin to realize that yes, you do need to provide food, shelter, and a promising future for your children, but a lot of the financial stuff just works itself out. You make adjustments and sacrifices to give them what you need to. But there is one important constant to remember: children need the love of their parents. They need dedicated bonding time. I am sharing a printable that is designed to aid in that parent-child bonding.
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Time is More Valuable than Money
When I say kids are expensive, I don’t actually mean money, because money is out there circulating for anybody. What costs much more is what you can’t get in return for goods or services rendered. It has to come from within you and that is the real sacrifice.
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I once read that if you want to raise good kids, invest less money and more time. That really resonated with me because I realized that even though I want to give my children everything as a parent, what they really want is me! I was one of those parents who started buying toys for my kids before they even knew what to do with them.
Having too many toys becomes a thorn on the side of most parents because babies and toddlers don’t respect things. They create havoc and then just leave you in the wake of their destruction. If you take all that stuff away, they don’t even notice it’s gone, unless it is some very special item they’ve bonded to. But that’s the point. It’s not about things. It’s about relationships. Kids don’t naturally look after their things, but they naturally form relationships even with an inanimate plush toy. This just shows how important parent-child bonding truly is.
Pillow Talk Questions for Kids
I have something called pillow talk that I found is an indispensable tool for parent-child bonding. It’s a wonderful way to bond with your child which is just as important to them as it is to you. If your child seems disinterested or detached, or you struggle to relate to one of your kids, in particular, pillow talk can help. Using the prompts on the printable sheet you can start a bedtime conversation based on questions aimed at helping you learn more about your child.
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Children don’t always let you know everything they are going through or thinking about. I know, sometimes it seems like they do, but there are always surprising little things I learn from my little girl that I never would have picked up on if I hadn’t just started the conversation. The Pillow Talk printable includes 20 great conversation-starting questions that are sure to bring you and your child closer together.
Nurturing Your Child and Strengthening Your Bond
Parent-child bonding is not just about getting chummy with your kids. Learning more about them allows you to see where and how you can help steer them in the right direction. Maybe they have questions to which they don’t know the answers. Perhaps they are having a hard time dealing with their feelings or acting in a way that you are teaching them to act. When you start an open conversation with your child it often brings to light both positives and negatives. Helping to guide your child through difficulties and celebrating positive moments alike are equally valuable parts of creating a strong bond with your kids.
The 20 questions in this printable aim to help get you started to start conversations and gain insights about your kids such as what they think a perfect day is. Who their heroes are and why? Lots of questions are aimed at what your child values, or feels in a way that makes these topics easy to discuss even if you have a child who is a little bit more on the shy side.
I have cherished this routine with my oldest daughter ever since we started doing it. I feel like we are so much closer and I know she loves the individual attention since the new baby has made me have to divide my time more. 10 years old is an especially important time for a little girl to feel a strong connection and the support of a parent. But beyond that, I have really enjoyed getting to know the beautiful person my child has become and is becoming.
