How to Get Along with Someone Else's Child: 5 Tips That Will Definitely Help You Find Common Ground
Let's say you find yourself in a situation where you are asked to look after your neighbors' child while their parents are away on urgent business.
Or you came to visit and, while the hostess is busy in the kitchen, you need to entertain the child. Or, perhaps, your work involves communication with children, regularly or occasionally (for example, you are a teacher or a hairdresser).
In all these situations, you will need such a skill as the ability to win a child over. And the following tips will help with this.
1. Treat your child like a normal person, just a little one. Talk to him calmly and evenly, explain difficult things to him in a normal tone, instead of using baby talk.
2. Get down to the child's eye level. This will help you demonstrate your respect and equality.
3. Don't praise your child directly, but pay attention to his clothes or the object he is holding. When strangers touch on personal topics, they can make a child even more shy. It is enough to say: "What a cool truck you have!" to start a conversation.
4. It often happens that people laugh when a child cries, trying to cheer him up. What actually happens? The child cries even louder, becomes even more desperate, as if to say: "Why does no one understand me?"
The next time you see your child upset, try to make a sad face and express your sympathy.
5. Become one of the kids. Accept their rules of play, rather than trying to impose yours. Play games they like. Talk to them about topics they are interested in. Read books they like.
Previously, we wrote about how to tell a child about a divorce.
