The Damage of Disengaging

July 4^th is always a favorite holiday for our family. For the past few years, one of my dearest friends on the planet shows up for coffee, long talks, and sitting by the pool. I always try and record a podcast episode during Ash-a- lee’s visit and was so excited that we were able to chat early this morning about a subject that has been on my heart for a few weeks now.

During some recent outings, I have observed lots of little children that appear “starved” for attention. As I began watching closer, I realized that parents are disengaging with the children and it is happening on a regular basis.

Do any of you feel you disengage too often with your kids? If so, have you noticed a difference in your child’s behavior when you “check-out”? How can we be intentional about engagement so that we help our children become emotionally healthy adults? I get that we need to escape from the burdens of this parenting gig from time to time, but I worry that unless we make a commitment to intentionally engage, we are going to cause damage to our children’s hearts and soul.

Ashley and I suggested the following to help you on this engagement journey:

Keep a basket of books close to the sofa and say YES to reading to your children.
Set a time every day to check social media so that you are not looking on your phone all day long.
Be present.
Participate in family activities (the bowling story).
Ask each child three, open-ended questions every day!

You won’t regret investing in your children’s emotional well -being. Investing when they are young, will pay off during those teen and early adult years.