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“Don’t be a virus!” I said.
My son looked at me pityingly. “No, Mom,” he said, “it doesn’t work for you.”
Communication issues are inevitable when you put together different generations and genders. Add limited time together, and my conversations with my kids tend to turn into a series of barked orders and complaints, with the odd endearment throw in: “Don’t throw your apple core on the floor, my love.”
Columnist Tracey Hawthorne is getting a handle on what her kids are saying, and resident Parent24 teen Robyn Addinall has done some spying on behalf of those of us who don’t know our PVR from our PIR.
Whatever we say to our younger kids goes straight in and comes out later, but renegade parent Sam Wilson doesn’t believe we should treat some words as special or taboo. Not everyone agrees, as the comments show, so add your voice to the discussion.
With holidays ahead, there will hopefully be a bit more time to talk to my family. I hope we can go a bit deeper than “Mom, I need a lift” and “Put away those shoes, my darling”. It would be great to take some time to talk about deeper things like love, values and whether Zac Efron is a good singer.
What do you wish you could say to your family more often? And what do you wish you had never said? Tell us.
