Encouraging Kids to Be Different

Be different and let your kids know it’s okay to be different! . What if instead of hearing about or talking about how bad electronics are for our kids, we actually didn’t let them have them? Or taught limitations? . Or we teach them to talk at dinners out instead of all staring at phones? Order their own food? Talk to adults? . Maybe our kids could show up to youth group events and have people talk to them instead of all the kids staring at their phones? Or stay up late telling stories or bonding instead of all playing on their phones? . Why is my kid frustrated that her church peers only play on their phones or that they point out that she’s different because she likes books... Hard to make friends when others don’t know how to be one.... . Remember when people used to talk? Or trust that their kids would be okay away from you? . It’s hard to raise our kids to find friends when other kids don’t know the meaning or being with other people. Real relationships. Conversations. . They’re learning these things from us. Those skills are a heck of a lot more important than keeping them entertained every moment of their waking lives. Or even dare I say “school”? . . Help me help my sweet, mature kid not be the only “weird” one. And to remind her that it’s okay to be different. Rise up!