Learning to be a human being is a lifelong task, and let’s be honest, it can be difficult. Most of us are incredibly messy and complex, so learning how to deal with our own weirdness can be challenging, special When it comes to interacting with other messy, complex people. As parents, we have a responsibility to teach our children how to navigate the world. TikTok creator and mom of two boys Kate (@kelsewhatelse) has a great strategy for helping kids navigate tricky social situations. Specifically: What do you do in the face of objections?
“Let’s play the ‘I don’t like that’ game,” she told one of her boys as she decorated the tree. “It’s me saying something that I like but you don’t like, and instead of saying ‘I don’t like that,’ you ask me a question about it or talk about it. Because when we try to be someone’s friend, we Have a friendly conversation. This means we don’t tell them we don’t like things they like; we tell them we don’t like things they like and we try to understand by asking them questions about the things they like. them.
For example, if someone says “I like broccoli,” then Kate’s son is no Like, he won’t say “Uh, I don’t like broccoli”, he’ll ask “What’s your favorite” part? When his mom replies (top), he lets out a sweet “Oh! That’s great you like broccoli. I love pizza.”
She also emphasized that you are not always have Ask questions: Sometimes you can just have a conversation. For example, if someone tells you that their favorite color is pink, you can simply talk about pink things.
“We want to have good friendships in life. In order to have good friends, we have to be good friends, which means we don’t end conversations. Even though we may not like what they like.
It’s all about supporting the interests of our friends!
Many parents and teachers have praised Kate’s approach and said they would use the technique with their children. But many people are quick to note that this is a useful exercise for adults as well.
One commenter joked: “It’s not me, a full grown adult taking notes.”
“I think a lot of grown men need this lesson,” mused another.
“For people with social anxiety disorder, this will be as helpful as it was 35 years ago,” wrote a third.
While the line between “keeping the conversation friendly” will definitely become more fine as we get older, Kate’s simple but genius exercise may be one worth reflecting on for many of us… especially as so many of us are When thinking.
