{"id":835,"date":"2011-07-29T16:08:02","date_gmt":"2011-07-29T10:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/dad\/?p=835"},"modified":"2011-07-29T16:08:02","modified_gmt":"2011-07-29T10:38:02","slug":"the-present","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/2011\/07\/the-present\/","title":{"rendered":"The Present"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quick on the heels of my last post, comes another one that focuses on what truly matters when you’re a parent.<\/p>\n

In a blog post entitled – The Power of Presence<\/a> – Mike Shippey offers a wonderfully-written, thought-provoking reminder of the power we wield as parents, and how we can put it to good use…<\/p>\n

When your child wants to talk to you about something\u2026listen<\/em>.\u00a0 And don\u2019t just listen, but make eye contact.\u00a0 And don\u2019t just make eye contact, bend down or get on one knee and get face to face with them.\u00a0 Really and truly look them in the eye.\u00a0 And pay attention.<\/p>\n

Nothing makes a child feel as safe and secure or loved and cared for as a parent who takes the time to listen.<\/em><\/p>\n

Kids are pure, man.\u00a0 I mean they are the real deal<\/em>.\u00a0 They have no real concept of time or boundaries, their imaginations run wild, they are naturally happy and curious, and they will ask anything<\/em>.\u00a0 They ask because they want the answers.\u00a0 And the first place they look is the ultimate storehouse of knowledge\u2026mom or dad.<\/p>\n

Imagine that you are a super hero.\u00a0 Because, if you have children, you are<\/em>.\u00a0 To those kids you are the bravest, strongest, smartest, and most influential person n the planet.\u00a0 As far as they are concerned, you know everything<\/em> and you can do anything<\/em>.\u00a0 And so, when they need an answer or a solution, some love, attention or just a person to share their feelings with\u2026they come to you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It doesn’t take much to be a superhero to your child.\u00a0 And yet, so many of us (well-meaning parents) focus on the stuff that doesn’t really matter in the end.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As Shippey says, “Just be present<\/em>.\u00a0 Be real.\u00a0 Be a parent.\u00a0 Be a hero.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Quick on the heels of my last post, comes another one that focuses on what truly matters when you’re a parent. In a blog post<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-better-parenting"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}