should you share your problems with your child?
By gne925
@gne925 (80)
Philippines
July 23, 2008 10:44am CST
hi there! please help me... im a single parent and i have a nine year old daughter. we have been together for 7 years and we practice transparency with each other and i can say that we are really close... so its one of the reason why she understood my separaton with her dad. because of this transparency thing, i usually share my problems with her (personal, work, etc.) and when she gives her comment, it gives me a different kind of energy and enlightenment. but my mom is really against this sharing i do with my daughter. my mom said that it harms my child's young mind and it might cause my daughter not to concentrate in school and may not enjoy her life. you think im wrong? should i stop sharing thoughts with my daughter?
2 people like this
4 responses
@Anne19 (300)
• Philippines
23 Jul 08
I am also a single mom. My daughter is three years old and she was very smart. I don't have to tell her about things, because I don't know, she often seems to know a lot. But I never shared any of my problems with her, except about my situation with her Dad. Because I believe she needs to know it early so she can understand more. I must agree with your Mom, you shouldn't load her mind of problems. She's still a child no matter how much you think she can understand. Being a single mother, we are at risk of treating our child like a sister or a friend. But I don't think that it is healthy for any child to be expose very early at the adult world. I think it should be the other way around, your child sharing all her thoughts with you and you being the active listener all the time.
1 person likes this
@reckon21 (3479)
• Philippines
23 Jul 08
Yes, your mother is right. The child at young age
must not be burden by problems especially adult
troubles. She is too young to understand it all.
Let her have the joy and innocence of a young spirit.
Because when she grow old, her childhood memories
will be her strength to look back on. You don't
want her memories to be filled with sadness and
problems, right?
1 person likes this
@squirt051305 (381)
• United States
23 Jul 08
OK...this is a sensitive question. My opinion is I don't think parents should talk to their children about things like money problems, any kind of problems because then the kid will stress out over it. When your children are young you want them to enjoy their youth....because they will have their own problems when they are adults. I hope this help you! Take care!
@gne925 (80)
• Philippines
24 Jul 08
thank you squirt... i really wanted to avoid sharing problems with my child. but sometimes, she can see me crying specially when im praying. she cries with me. and she is insisting to know the reason. plus the fact that i dont have anybody or anyone to share my problems with...
@ruchibhatia (30)
• India
24 Jul 08
Sharing thaughts is not an issue I feel, but u should not fill any negative vibrations into child's mind related to his/her father or anybody. Teach uru child to respect anyone and everyone to a desired extent.