A friend of mine who is a child psychologist once told me that boys – like men – like to use as few words as possible whenever communicating. For the last few years my young son has been a bit of a jabber jaw, in fact, I had considered him to be outside the norm because of his extensive use of language and desire to talk and talk and talk. He has always been one to ask a lot of questions and never had an off switch when it came to keeping a conversation going, but recently I have seen him changing. Only five, his continuous chattering is slowing down. He seems to be less eager to talk and sometimes self-conscious about sharing.

Almost every day when I pick him up from school and ask what he learned, his response is “nothing”. If I ask what he did in class, he generally replies with “I don’t remember”. I haven’t been too worried as I do get an update whenever there is something wrong, but getting the open dialogue I once did is definitely not as easy.

Luckily, I found Little Stars Bedtime Cards, and have used them to get my son talking and sharing. These uniquely designed cards make conversation easy to create. With three individual characters to identify with your kids, the cards promote discussion on things such as being thankful and what makes them feel safe.  The back of each card has questions that parents can ask that allow kids to open up and share about topics that they might otherwise keep to themselves. With topics that are both fun and important, every card creates closeness through a positive verbal exchange.

Unlike most parenting tools that help you to teach important lessons and values, Little Stars Bedtime Cards are designed to re-affirm positive qualities that already exist in your child. They help you to go beyond teaching and telling to engaging and connecting with your child through the sharing of common positive experiences and emotions.

I took their suggestion and every couple of nights, hid a card under my son’s pillow. If the day has been particularly trying or if it has been one of those days where we haven’t seem to be able to find any one-on-one time, the cards are the perfect opportunity to share. Now going to bed has been fun as he is eager to see if a card is hiding there. I, in turn, have loved the insight into his feelings, the openness about his ideas and the laughter that often ensues.

You can purchase the cards at the Little Stars Website.

Standing on my Soapbox,

JB