Having Trouble Getting Your Child to Talk to You? Try Text.

It's a familiar scene around dinner tables around the world: parents ask, "How was your day?" and kids say, "Fine."

Parents might ask a few follow-up questions like "Did you have a good time?" or, taking the advice of HeyKiddo™ Talk, asking open-ended questions like, "What was the best part of the afternoon?"

But alas, kids give one-word answers.

No matter how great your relationship, it can be tough to get school-age kids to carry a conversation.

In part, that's because they're getting older and distancing themselves from parents is a natural part of growing up.

Another reason is that kids don't always have the words to describe the complexity of their feelings. It's like in the movie Inside Out when simple feelings like "happy" or "sad" don't cut it anymore--kids might struggle to explain what's on their minds.

But the good news is that there are lots of ways to communicate with your child!

Check out this story from one of our HeyKiddo™ Talk parents:

My child is 7 and struggles to share intense feelings, especially when he thinks sharing might upset me. I've always told him it's okay, but when I ask him what's wrong, he usually says "nothing" or "I don't want to talk about." We have lots of great conversations most of the time, so it makes me really sad and insecure when he doesn't talk to me. Because of remote learning, he uses a computer during the day. Imagine my surprise to get a text from him during the school day! He shared more with me during this conversation than if we'd had a conversation about it and I feel great that we have a new communication option.

We love this story because this parent was able to see the value of different ways of communicating with her child.

Texting, keeping a shared journal, drawing, or using notecards can be a way to tackle tough topics without the pressure of a conversation.

Using different ways to communicate with your child also gives you space to respond rather than react, which strengthens your bond and allows you to reflect on conflict in a productive way.