Being an entrepreneur isn’t an easy feat, as we have to wear many different hats at the same time. To become a successful entrepreneur, we need to exert time and effort to manage every facet of the business while making sure that we become responsible parents to our children.
But regardless of how much we try, there will be instances when we’ll have to miss out on some of our child’s most important events because of business. This is especially true if we’re still starting to make a name in the industry or if our business is in trouble.
Fortunately, we can still become effective entrepreneurs and parents if we know how to have tough conversations with our children and explain the situation to them carefully. Doing this might be tough, but the tips listed below can surely help.
1. Time It Right
If you want to inform your child that you can’t make it to their music recital or game event because of an important business meeting, it’s best to start the conversation during weekend mornings. This is the ideal time to have tough conversations with our children, as they’re not rushing for school and can always ask questions later in the day.
If possible, we should talk to them during or after breakfast so that their minds are active. Engaging in tough conversations with our children before breakfast will prevent them from understanding our point because their brains are still drowsy and their bodies are hungry.
2. Rehearse
If the conversation you’re going to open up with your child is emotional—for example, we have to inform our child that we need to be more frugal, as the business isn’t earning profits or we have to hire house help because we can no longer manage our responsibility at home because of the business—we should spend time practicing our talking points. This will help us maintain our composure and deliver the news in the way that we want.
Moreover, rehearsing in front of a friend or the mirror will also prevent us from breaking down in front of our children. This is important, because they might feel frightened the moment we stumble over our words or start to sob during the conversation.
3. Speak on Their Level
Our children will find it hard to understand complex concepts, such as bankruptcy and startup businesses, which is why we should never flood them with nitty-gritty details when we converse with them.
Instead, we should use straightforward sentences and words and then supplement using age-appropriate explanations. The simpler the terms we use, the easier it’ll be for our children to understand what we’re trying to explain.
Use the Right Resources
Having tough conversations with our children isn’t the same as when we talk to adults. Children are usually very innocent, which is why we should be more patient and prepared when we converse with them.
Starting the conversation at the wrong time or using the wrong words can prevent us from truly expressing our thoughts to our children and can put a strain on our relationships with them. By following the tips in this article, we can prevent these problems from happening and have peace of mind knowing that our children will understand our situation.
