Coffee Shop Goss Banora Point > Kirra Beach - June 2014 | Page 9

FOCUS ON THE
FAMILY

The Impact of Everyday
Interactions
Ordinary moments may become the
biggest treasured memory for a child
by Allison Akey
Do you ever wonder what memories
your children will treasure when they
become adults? Down the road, you
may be surprised by what they recall.
Picture this scene: It is your daughter’s
10th birthday. You want to make her
party extra special. After all, she has
told you every day for the past month
that she is finally in the double digits and
“no longer a child.” You have plotted a
surprise birthday party for weeks. You’ve
invited her friends, bought snacks,
hung pink and purple streamers, blown
up balloons, spent hours meticulously
decorating the cake and hired Sparkles
the Clown. The guests arrive, and the
party is a huge success.
Years later, as the two of you swap
your favorite memories, your daughter
mentions her 10th birthday. You assume
she will rave about the beautiful cake
and Sparkles’ funny balloon animals,
but instead she recalls how much fun it
was to ride in the van with you to pick
up doughnuts for breakfast. Not only
were doughnuts a special treat, but the
one-on-one time she had with you was
also priceless. You sit dumbfounded and
wonder what other simple memories
she holds dear that you do not even
remember.
Everyday interactions may be more
meaningful than many parents realize.
Most children find just as much, or even
more, joy in the little things as they do
in life’s big events. Eating a special
breakfast of chocolate-chip pancakes,
picking out the perfect backpack for
the first day of school and singing silly

songs in the car
could
be
the
highlights of your
children’s younger
years.
Busyness
can
make it difficult for
parents to savour
life’s
ordinary
moments. But it
is precisely those moments that your
children will treasure forever.
I am speaking from personal experience:
That little girl enjoying a trip to the store
was me. And to this day, that simple
event remains one of my favorite
memories of time spent with my father.
Parental influence is strongest during
the early stages of their children’s lives,
up to the age of 13, during which time
children are facing relentless cultural
influences and competing world views.
For more Valuable Family and Parenting
Tips go to Focus on the Family
www.famiy.org.au

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