The various media outlets write and explain to us that we need to educate our children. And this is true - children need to be educated.
But you can also learn from our children.
It is clear to all adults in our generation that our children teach us how to use all the advanced technology that is not clear to us, the adults. They teach us about the complexity of Facebook, the instagram and how to solve various computer problems. They teach us how to use mobile phones. They teach us to download pictures. They teach not only us, the parents' generation, but also the generation of the grandparents. The current young generation knows many things that we and our parents do not know. Their endless games on the computer, which so annoyed us sometimes, taught them to be "champions" in technology, and now we come to them to guide us.
Every new generation is apparently meant not only to be educated, but also to teach the latest and newest culture, which the parents have not yet learned, and which the children, with their curiosity and openness, absorbed and loved.
For example, the current generation of parents, influenced by the 1960s and 1970s, taught his parents to dress more freely, dance more freely and speak more freely. The generation of grandparents taught his parents how not to be "Galutian" - they are more Israeli than their parents, who immigrated to Israel. The generation that came to Israel taught his parents that we must leave countries that hate and sleep.
Our grandchildren will also teach our children new things that they will fear and oppose at first.
And of course not only are cultural and technological innovations we learn from our children. We learn from them a variety of mental changes:
We learn from them when they give birth to a big nanny and are tired from the night and cause great love and pleasure.
As children we learn to set limits and be tough, if we have not been before.
As they get older, we learn to talk to them, and to set them boundaries in a gentle and intelligent way.
And all the while they teach us, our children, to soften: to lower suprago, that is, to lower too rigid and high values - to connect with what they love and appreciate.
Yes - we live with another generation, which we must teach, but also learn from.
And this process of mutual learning can be fun and surprising and make parenting more fascinating and better.
I often talk about this mutual learning with parents, guided by parents, which is part of the psychological treatment of children and adolescents. I try to help parents understand that even their children and adolescents are sometimes right. I also give them legitimacy to teach their children what matters to their parents, but also to learn from their children. For example, to learn from children and adolescents that the iPhone is not so bad. Or you can enjoy and get to know nice friends through social networks, and that the computer is not necessarily dangerous. Or that drinking alcohol safely is not negative.
So what do you learn from your children? Can you share with us here? I would be happy if you would.
