Don't rush to answer questions

I'm learning so much from reading How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk - all the advice makes so much sense but it doesn't necessarily come naturally!

I haven't finished reading it yet but one of tips 'Don't rush to answer questions' is my current challenge. Do you find yourself answering the same question over and over? That was me. Until I read that if your child is asking a question it means they have already started to think about it and that if we always answer their questions they learn not to trust their own thoughts and judgement.

So in practicing this advice I've been responding to my 3 year olds questions with:

• I don't know
• What do you think?
• What do you see/hear?
• Do you know?

It has been such an eye opener. He answers the questions so quickly and easily and in doing show I can see just how much he understands. And, it puts an end to the same question being repeated over and over. Truly amazing!

It can be frustrating to have my son flip flop from one position to the opposite and back again within seconds. Do these sound familiar? I'm hungry/not hungry, I want a bath/don't want a bath, I want the blanket on/don't want a blanket on. But another way of looking at it is he's not sure of himself and by feeling a need to always have the answer to his questions I have been responsible for that.

So by taking on this challenge and changing the way I interact with my son, hopefully it will go some way to him knowing his true self and being tuned in to his emotions and gut instincts - something that I am still working on myself.

PS - I challenged myself to writing a post in 30 minutes today. No time to second guess, just had to go with it and know that "Good enough is almost always good enough".