Be more mindful and consciously aware of how you engage, interact and converse with your child.
Note your tone of voice.
When your child wants to talk to you and share something with you, stop everything and listen to them with 100% being present in that moment.
After I left the corporate world, I quickly realised how little ‘being present in the moment’ engagement I had with my children when I was working.
Looking back, my mind would always be pre-occupied with the work tasks, phone, analysis of work discussions and I would simply be on auto-pilot when interacting with the kids.
I would simply nod my head to a question or give a half answer without being fully present in that discussion.
After I left, I felt a lot of guilt and regret about missed precious moments and set an intention that my time with the kids is precious, and I would make it a priority to engage fully with them.
I now find our precious interactions joyful, happy and light.
Doing meditation and raising my level of consciousness to a higher level has helped me:
1) be more patient
2) control my reactions when my children behave in a certain way
3)understand why they do certain things
4) be more kind and compassionate
However, this does not mean that parenting has now become smooth sailing.
Every day brings new challenges as the children evolve and learn new things about life.
There are days where I resort to my old behaviour or actions or my tone of voice may be harsh (as my husband points out).
Don’t beat yourself up if this happens.
The important thing is you recognise what may have happened and set an intention to correct the following day.