Ten Things to Build a Better Relationship with Your Child

Tell them that you love them.  - Think about how much your parents used to tell you they love you.  Remember, how good that felt?  Tell them now.

Hug them every day. - Think about how good a hug feels even from a stranger.  Shouldn't you be hugging your kids first?

Play their favorite games with them - I sit down and play Candyland with Faith and Jason all the time.  There have been studies that say that playing a game with a child when they are young opens up communication lines for when they are older.  You don't want to have to try to open that communication line when they are a teenager.

Read a book at bedtime. - Teachers say it all the time.  Read to your child and they will love reading as well.  I really believe that statement.  Faith is just learning to read so our stories have changed.  She is reading with us.  I think Jason is picking some of it up as well.

Go for a walk together. - Have you seen how many overweight kids there are today?  Let's get healthy by taking walks together every evening if possible.  Two or three times a week is good too.  You'll be surprised how much you talk about during that walk as well.  I learn all about things at school that Faith forgets to mention when she gets home from school.

Ask.  Don't order. - As much as it is natural, it benefits you more if you ask them to do something.  Rather than order.  Such as:  "Put your bike away now." to "Do you think you could put your bike away?"  Yes sometimes it won't work but a lot of the times it will. 

Volunteer or donate to a charity. - I like to go through Faith and Jason's toys together and find things they don't play with and donate them to charity.  They feel good about it as well since they know that it is going to someone who might not have what they do.  Doing this will cause your family to be pulled together by a common cause.

Adopt their sport or cause. - If you child loves gymnastics, soccer, dance, etc. make sure that you support them in their effort.  This tells them that you care about what they want.  Think about how you felt as a child and your parents supported your efforts in what you wanted.  Or if they didn't support it.  How often were you likely to give up a sport if no one paid attention?  How often did you do better if they did support you?

Eat dinner together as a family.  - Do you eat with your family at night?  It's a great way to sit and talk about what happened in each of our lives.  Tell family stories about Grandpa Don or Nana Phyllis. 
Make cookies.  I learn more about my kids when we are having fun making cookies in the kitchen.  They love to see flour on my nose.  You don't have to make cookies.  It could be a homemade pizza.  Just something where they see you having fun with them.