If you want your children to improve, let them overhear the nice things you say about them to others.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I think the best thing that you can do with your kids is to talk to them like they're human beings, not like they're children and they don't know what they're doing.
If you want your kids to listen to you, don't yell at them. Whisper. Make them lean in. My kids taught me that. And I do it with adults now.
When you speak to a lot of kids, as I've done over the years, you know what to say, keep them laughing, good illustrations and learn to read.
The worst mistake you can make with children is to talk to them in a condescending, patronising way and think that you can teach them something. You have to understand that it is you who will be learning from them. You have to get into their world and see things from their perspective.
Kids learn more from example than from anything you say; I'm convinced they learn very early not to hear anything you say, but to watch what you do.
We try to keep a good line of communication open with our children. It's not always about trying to just teach them every moment, but it's about listening to them and trying to understand them and gain that sense of communication so when they need to talk to someone, they know that we're there.
I want to encourage kids to speak up, to tell their stories. That is the only way people will know what we have to go through. Believe in yourself. Someone once told me being different isn't bad - different is just different!
The best way to direct kids is to be natural and honest.
Respect your kids. They are their own people. I think sometimes we expect kids to be perfect when we're not perfect.
You have to really respect what your kids are doing with their kids and how they're raising them. You can't push your way into areas where you shouldn't be saying anything. You have to always remember they're not your own kids. Play with them, love them, spoil them to death - then hand them back.