Although the weather in Chicago is a poor reflection of the nearness of Spring, the season of renewal is right around the corner. Besides the promise of flowers, sunshine, and warmer air, the conclusion of Winter brings about one of my kids favorite times of year: Spring Break. Whether you’re planning a vacation or sticking close to home, think about this school hiatus as an opportunity to spend quality time with your children and get into the mentoring mindset.

Recently, I blogged about mentoring in the business world,  illustrating the benefits received by both the mentor and the mentee through the symbiotic relationship. In much the same way, mentoring our children can be a vital, reciprocal exchange that goes beyond the everyday parental leadership role.

Some may argue that parenting, by its very nature, is mentoring personified: after all, by definition, mentoring means an experienced person giving insight and direction to a less experienced individual. But while certainly, we are providing direction to our children on a daily basis, there’s a subtle difference between teaching and mentoring. When we mentor, we don’t simply instruct, we listen and respond to the specific challenges of our mentee. We don’t merely tell our protégés what they should do, we share our experiences to help them choose their own path.

Naturally, mentoring at home is often put on the back-burner as daily activities and responsibilities take precedence. With so much packed into the schedule, there’s little time left for meaningful exchanges during our regular routine. Parenting is a challenging, multi-tiered role that can often be as confusing and ambiguous as it is rewarding. We give our all and do our best, and still, at times, we feel we fall short as CEOs of the family.

By taking the time to mentor our kids, and not just parent them, we’re not only forging a strong, reciprocal relationship, we’re providing them with a solid foundation from which to build their lives upon. We’re helping them bridge from childhood into adulthood in a way that goes one step beyond the traditional parenting job.

One of the best times to spend mentoring our children is while on vacation, since we’re removed from the daily grind that often bogs down the process. Over Spring break, take the time to connect and relate to your children in a different way, leaving the didactic parenting role behind.

Here are some ways to be a mentor to your kids:

• Expand their Horizons: Getting out of the neighborhood provides cultural and real-world experiences that are tactile and tangible, which impacts kids in a way that books or Internet visuals cannot provide.
• Make it About Them (Really!): As parents, everything we do is “for our kids.” But most of the time, it’s rightfully about what we think is best for them; not about what interests and drives them. Focus your vacation time around topics, places, and experiences they are drawn towards or have expressed curiosity about. Does your son spend hours creating YouTube-worthy video clips? Take him on a TV or movie studio tour. Does your daughter love animals? Take her horseback riding or to a National Park. Ask them where they’d like to go…and why. Get creative and provide them with opportunities to learn about something they love.
• Boost their Self Esteem: Quality time as a family provides your kids with a confidence and security in their own value and worth. Through actions, and not just words, your children will appreciate being listened to, interacted with, and guided rather than policed.  Your attention and reciprocal sharing will boost their self-esteem and teach them to trust and appreciate their individuality.
• Draw out New Skills: Experiences outside the usual routine, especially those in a vacation scenario, are the ideal way to draw out new skills that are perhaps lying dormant within your kids. Being away from the constraints and limitations of home and school, where social fears and responsibilities may overshadow trying new things, vacation time is a time of adventure, exploration, and out-of-the-box thinking. It’s the perfect time to coax and guide your children into embracing new challenges that help them discover more about what moves, motivates, and inspires them.

As a parent, we’re constantly teaching our children and pointing them in the direction of success. As a mentor, we can also pass on our knowledge, listen to and share ideas, and help foster our children’s personal, problem-solving, and communication skills. Through travel, we also instill valuable life experiences and lessons that create lasting memories and solidify the family bond. This Spring break…take a break from the norm and get in the mentoring mindset!

–Sheri Staak