Starting a conversation with your child

Talking to your child can be difficult but it is a great way to build on relationships and avoid family monsters becoming unmanageable. Sometimes, children just need to talk about their family monsters in order to get past them. For a lot of children, just knowing that they have someone to talk to and to help is enough to manage them.

School

Children may struggle to manage their relationships with peers and/or teachers at school – so it’s important for parents to help manage these worries by being understanding and explaining things as much as possible. Although time is the thing we’re all often short of, it’s very important to take out 5-10 minutes for a conversation with your little ones or not so little ones. Checking on them, ensuring they know you’ll always be able to spare a moment for them and talking about what’s worrying them, is a vital part of tackling their family monsters and yours.

A difficult chat

If you need to talk about something, which you know your child feels anxious about, other members of the family might be able to help. Before having a conversation, consider who is the closest to your child – maybe aunty or uncle is more likely to get a more honest response, so they could approach the subject instead. If there is an issue maybe the chosen person can ask the child if they mind what they have said being shared.

If you don’t know the answer

If your child asks you a question and you don’t know the answer that’s ok! You can always reassure them that even though you may not know they answer now, that you can always find out and that you will be there to help them. Because talking about family monsters and tackling them together makes them so much more manageable.

Ending a conversation

It’s a good idea to end the conversation by reassuring the child that they can always talk to you and that you want to help them solve the issue. Try to end the conversation on a positive note so, they can have a smile back on their face.

Need more support?

Our free FamilyLine helpline is here to provide a listening ear, answer those particular parenting questions you have or help with guidance around more complex issues. All via telephone, text message or email for free.

Opening times:

Monday to Friday 9am to 9pm

Telephone: 0808 802 6666

Text message: 07537 404 282

Email: [email protected]

Contacting us out of hours

Do you need FamilyLine but it’s out of our operation hours? You can either call back in our opening hours or if you’re in need now then you can contact our crisis line to get in touch with a trained professional.

Text FAMILYACTION to 85258

Our crisis messenger text service provides free, 24/7 crisis support across the UK. We know that getting the correct support at the correct time is so beneficial which is why we’ve introduced our crisis line. This service is delivered in partnership with Shout.

Join the conversation

Join the conversation on social media and share your family monsters using #MyFamilyMonsters. Let’s face our monsters together.