Parenting coach and educator Joseph Driessen shares his tips for running a harmonious household under lockdown.
He says the key is getting the family to work as a team, and for parents, that might mean listening more and speaking less.
Photo: 123RF
Be the captain of yourself and your ship
- Look after yourself
- Find a time and place to centre your yourself
- Reflect and positive self-talk
- Acknowledge what is difficult
- Journal
- Practice mindfulness / meditation / a walk / running etc
Look after your relationship with your partner
- Work together: Care and maintain the relationship.
- Engine room of a family = Core harmony and love of the parents
- Children will then be deliriously happy too.
Work together to steer the ship
- A (rough) for plan each week
- A (rough) for plan Each day
- Provide a basic structure
- Good eating
- Periods of rest and quiet
- Freedom and play
- Individual activities
- Jointly coming together
2. A happy family runs itself.
1 Family is like a sailing boat, balanced and steers itself with constant little interventions
2 Find the rhythm of your family
3 Nudge towards harmony each day anew.
4 Accept the fluctuations and steady the ship
5 Every day is a new adventure
6 Leadership flexibility and problem solving.
3. Every member of your family is part of the crew
1 A place of their own
2 A series of jobs.
3 Coaching. Scaffolding. Delegation. Ownership. Reporting and coaching
4 Part of a team. Making contribution.
5 T.E.A.M motto: Together Everyone Achieves More.
6 Create a family charter, either informally or formally.
7 Manage each child individually
8 Then their relationships with others.
4. Practice your emotional intelligence skills each day.
1 Listen more and speak less.
2 Help your children to recognize, accept and honour, label and manage their emotions.
3 Coach socially acceptable way to express these emotions.
4 Show empathy and patience.
5. Facilitate independent play and learning (Learn what great parents and teachers do)
1 Facilitate your children to play / learn independently
2 All children have their own interests which you can build on
3 Activating their delight and imagination with a new world you introduce to them
4 Letting them process and build their interpretation of that new-found universe
5 Providing resources
6 Communicating and interacting about their play and learning
7 Balancing their activities with the need for order and tidying up
8 Finding the next chapter or starting again
