It can be tough to get kids to talk to you about what’s bothering them, but it can be less difficult if you have shorter, consistent conversations with them, says child psychologist J. Timothy Davis.
When your child is experiencing issues like challenges at school or difficulty expressing their emotions, Davis suggests the “25 1-minute parenting rule”: Brief chats about an issue over time, instead of one long conversation about the topic.
It can be even more effective for communicating with boys, he says.
“What I found over the years of working with kids and parents is if you break a big conversation down into little chunks where you learn something, that then becomes the start of the next conversation,” says Davis, author of “Challenging Boys: A Proven Plan for Keeping Your Cool and Helping Your Son Thrive.”
“You can get to where you want to go ultimately, but just in a way that’s going to be much more successful.”
