Today I read a very interesting post on a great blog ( A Cup of Jo ) about how to talk to kids. I was just about the youngest in a small family so I've had very little experience with kids and as I am only human, what is unfamiliar is frightening. I was always happy to look after the neighbours horses rather than their kids. Not a whole lot has changed, I am still much more comfortable with 800kg of unpredictable hooves and teeth than that small bundle you've just thrown into my arms.
This post has come at a great time as more of my friends start families. As I am now a full blown grown up I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to avoid eye contact with children, terrified they'll try to engage me.
Here's a really interesting article by Lisa Bloom about how to talk to little girls. Bloom is adamant about not focusing on saying how cute/adorable/pretty a girl is but on what she is reading, what she likes about the world and what she doesn't. She wants us to ask kids about their mind, not their dress.
Now I think this article applies to little boys too (whilst body image issues are generally associated with girls boys are increasingly being affected as well). I don't really want to get near the gender stereotypes side of things that the article touches on because it's such a complex issue that thinking about it just over whelms me.
I used it simply to get a couple good ways to conquer my fear of those kidlywinks. And as it turns out, you treat them just like people. What a revelation!
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