This Is How I Create Meaningful Connections With My Kids

(gentle music) Headspace Studios. (gentle music) Greetings everyone. Welcome to Radio Headspace. My name is Kessonga and we have made it to Friday. Woo-hoo. I hope everyone's week has gone according to plan, and hopefully just maybe these Radio Headspace episodes have helped along the way. So I wanted to close out the week talking about something that I take very seriously and that I hold very dear to my heart. I am referring to parenting. If there's one thing that I'm 100% confident I'm dedicated to, that would be parenting. It's my belief that parenting is one of the most, if not the most important job there is because your children didn't ask to be here. You're literally molding and guiding a brand new soul into existence. It's so magical. As I've mentioned before, I have two daughters, ages 18 and 15, and they are my joy. The love that I have for them is immeasurable. But the thing is, as much as I love them, and as much as I love being a parent and dedicated to being a parent, that doesn't mean that I get it right all of the time. After all, I am human. But like I said, I'm dedicated. So when I notice I've messed up, I try to remedy it immediately. And even in fixing it, I may still mess it up further, especially with teenagers. Oh my God. I'm so grateful I have my mindfulness practice to lean on. Oh, and of course I have my wife. But today's episode is dedicated to all the fathers out there raising daughters. I'm gonna give some mindful parenting tips that can help to strengthen your relationship with your daughter, and also help you to navigate the unique challenges of raising a girl in today's world. And even though I'm dedicating this episode to fathers, these tips pertain to all parents out there raising their beautiful children. Alrighty, let's talk about it. So the whole reason I'm actually talking about this today is due to what happened with my oldest the other day when she got home from school. Long story short, she got an attitude over some disagreement that we had, which is fine because I know with her being 18, we're not gonna always see eye to eye. But what I don't tolerate is talking to me with a disrespectful tone, as my mother would say, talking out the side of your mouth. And this is what she was doing, and I promptly checked her. Now, all the ladies in my beautiful house of estrogen have told me that I'm sometimes too harsh with the way that I talk, especially when I'm being stern. And I immediately recognized that this was perhaps the case when my daughter said, fine, whatever, papa. But you don't have to say it like that. And tears actually came to her eyes. I felt terrible. I felt like crumbs on a table. I embraced her. I kissed her up,...