Communication With Children And Adolescence

Whenever I am asked for one "key" to successfully navigating the waters of raising children and also adolescence, I would say "communication". Allow me to explain.
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I am a single mother with four children and I struggle to find quality time for each child.

However, at the beginning of each week as I plan my weekly strategy (and, yes, I must plan to be an effective parent), I mark of hour slots for each child. I plan to spend one hour with each child every week, just one on one. We might walk on the beach (this is a good one if you have boys; they will much prefer walking and talking to sitting and talking), sometimes we go to the shops and walk and talk, other times we just drive. The kids know that this is our time to chat about life and whatever they want including sibling rivalry issues, school troubles, etc.

I find that because I take the time to be with my kids individually, this gives me the right to discipline then when I need to. And when we take the time to listen to our kids they will in return listen to us. What gets us in pickle is when we try it the other way around - when we demand that our kids obey us BEFORE building that relationship.
We must get things the right way around, first earn the respect of our children.
Only then will we reap the rewards of open and honest communication between parent and child.