Good Communication

Growing up, I feel like I had good communication with my parents. I’d talk with my mom a lot and when chances arose, I’d talk with my dad too. Some subjects we never touched on because we had no reason too, others probably could have been talked about but we never got there. The truth is, my parents made an effort, and that’s what was important. 

Going out to eat and talking was a frequent activity I did with my mom and siblings during my teenage years. Sitting at the counter or on the porch having discussions with my siblings happened often. At current family dinners, 10 conversations are happening at once and it fills my soul with goodness. I don’t know what it is, but the power of a good talk really recharges me. 

My family likes to talk, Jess will attest to that (ha!), and I think it both stems from our desire and love for the art of conversation but also by the way our parents nourished that art. This I am trying to do with my own little family. 

One such night we started talking about a YouTuber whose channel contained sub-par food reviews. We talked about his delivery, the camera work, his hat choice, which led to us questioning how such a person could have so many subscribers. The conversation wasn’t about anything of huge importance, but everyone was involved (even Elsie was trying!) and we came together on something so we can come together on bigger things in the future. 

I read a quote recently by James E. Faust that read, “Parents spend a lifetime seeking to establish and maintain good communications with each of their children.” This stuck out to me for a couple of reasons, 1) good communication has to be worked on constantly and 2) each child is going to have a different style of communication that parents must come to discover and then nourish. Jess and I talk about these different styles often and sometimes we have to adjust based on behaviors, either those of our child(ren)’s or our’s. 

Hopefully, there is good communication within the family, it will spread to good communication within the community. This is my hope for my children as they grow up and work with others.