Communicating with Care

Sometimes, as parents, we get so caught up in the children that we forget to communicate, to love, to seek to understand each other. We get so busy with lunches and lessons, dinners and disasters that we fail to care for each other. Parents communicate, whether we're aware of it, or not. We get busy, yell at each other, and take out our frustrations on each other all too often. It's difficult, but healthy, to remember that every parent has the weight of somebody else's life on their shoulders. Moms, remember to appreciate what dad does do, not what he forgets to do or can't do. Dads, remember to appreciate what mom gets done and not just what she complains about or wants done. There are so many things to appreciate, yet we often focus on the things that scare us. If a parent gets mad because the other forgot to pick the kids up from school on time, then the parent is not realizing that the kids did get picked up, the other parent did not mean to hurt anybody. The parent is simply scared that the kids “could have been” hurt. But, they weren't. Remember that when your kids are safe! Remember to allow others room for errors and they will allow you room for the errors you're bound to make. Remember to appreciate the moments that we get with each other. We will all pass on one day and true prosperity can not be bought. True prosperity is NOT burying your child. True prosperity is knowing what your spouse needs at the end of the day. True prosperity is receiving what you need from your spouse. True prosperity comes from asking, listening, caring, sensing, wondering, and communicating with one another. This is not to say that we should “dote” on each other. Quite the opposite, in fact. It's much simpler than that. We simply need to care and be aware of one another. We simply need to be able to say “I got a little worried when you didn't pick the kids up on time, but I'm glad that we're all home now.” The normal conversation would go more like this: “Where the hell were you? Why didn't you pick up the kids? Are you stupid? How could you forget...” Either way, the kids got picked up. The difference lies in being grateful that the kids are safe and understanding that everybody makes mistakes. Communicating in such ways creates an atmosphere of safety, where nobody's perfect and nobody's expected to be, even you!