Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.

That’s My DAD

Yes you are right you can be your child’s first best friend. Being your child’s best friend is easy and it gives you time to connect with them. The foundation of this relation starts from childhood itself. If your kids are too young, story telling time is the best way to get closer to the. You can read their poems to them or tell stories by becoming the characters of their stories. In this way they will connect with the story and come more closer to you. They will share their small stories and their feelings right from the childhood. This is the first step towards your friendship.

You can start to interact with your child in their play time rather using using the social network for your personal use.  If he is a boy it would be easier paying with his stuff. But if she is a girl sometimes you have to play with their baby dolls which would be funny but your daughter is going to love it.

Having a chat in meal time is another way to talk about their day to day life, their studies and friends. They can start to share their day to day life routines with you. In this way you can know whether he is in the right hands or not. He may even share his secrets some day. Gathering at meal time for the whole family is always helpful for the child to be connected to his parents on a day to day life basis.

Sometimes use your free time for your kids. Try to color with them or take them with you for some house fixing work. At this time you can talk to them and teach them some kind of stuff. May be a trip to store, it will give you both more time with each other.

So being a best friend is not tough. Give a try.

Thank you for reading.

Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.