Camp Warby Presents: Improving Communication Among the Chaos

To wrap up summer, our Warby Parents Employee Resource Group kicked off Camp Warby–our annual week of virtual activities for the kids of #teamwarby (and children at heart). Carol Muleta, Founder of Parenting 411, delivered a fireside chat and left us with five tips to improve communication with our kiddos in a world that may feel more chaotic these days.?

Make room for the magic

• Be available and interested. Plan your availability to be fully present with your kiddo ahead of time. Schedule this based on your kid’s patterns.?
• Set aside special bonding time and give your little one(s) ownership to choose what happens during that time. Give the time a special name and don’t withhold it for behavioral issues.?

?Look and Listen?

• Notice your kid’s language and behavior when they are uncomfortable in a situation.?
• Observe the energy behind what they are saying and how they say it.?

?Acknowledge and Affirm

• Make home a safe place to be themselves.
• Accept what your child is saying without judgment.
• Practice reflective listening and help your child name and own their feelings.

Empathize and Encourage

• Express empathy when your kid is upset. To acknowledge their emotions, you might try saying, “I can imagine it feels overwhelming. It does for me too.”?
• Have your kid talk through the challenge they are experiencing and ways they can overcome it.?
• Try saying, “What do you wish could be true?” Help them plan how they will advocate for themselves.?

Inform and Empower?

• Use either/or statements to give your kid choices.?
• Give them information, training, and tools they can use to make informed choices such as sharing the weather before giving them the choice of what to wear.
• Roleplay new situations that might feel challenging to them.