Shhh

In social work school we were required to practice silence. Crazy, right? We were instructed to sit across from a pretend patient/client and not speak for 60 seconds. Do you know how long it takes for a minute of silence? It’s like two hours!

Silence is powerful. It gives the speaker and the listener time to compose their thoughts. It provides space for emotions to surface. It can bring forth additional information because most people are so darn uncomfortable with silence, they just keep talking to avoid it. Don’t tell your kids, but it works really well when engaging with them. It usually goes something like this:

Parent: How was your day?
Teenager: Good.
Silence
Teenager: We had a test in Spanish.
Silence
Teenager: I think I aced it.
Teenager: What’s for dinner?

As this school year begins, try silence; it’s amazing what you might hear.