👪How to build connection with your child through “Super Saturday.” George Betts: Gifted & talented

Hey parents, what’s up? It’s me, Seth Perler, executive function coach based in Colorado. I help struggling students navigate this thing called education so they can have a great life.

During this time, when everything is up in the air and everything is unpredictable, I was thinking about something from a man named George Betts that might be very, very, very helpful to you. It’s called “Super Saturday.”

Hold on — it’s not just on Saturday, and it doesn’t matter if you have teenagers or four-year-olds. This can help your family.

George Betts was my teacher when I was getting my master’s in Gifted and Talented Education. Unfortunately, he passed away not too long ago, and he had a tremendous impact on me. One of the ideas that he would talk about was this idea of a “Super Saturday.”

A Super Saturday is a really easy, fantastic way for you to improve connection in the family. Particularly with a lot of you parents who have adolescent teenagers right now, there is a lot of disconnect, and sometimes a lot of tension and struggle.

When I’m doing my talks and such, I always say that the most important thing is the relationship. I know there are other things going on — school tasks that need to be done, responsibilities, chores, and yada yada yada — and sometimes we get lost in all of that stuff and forget what’s most important, which is the relationship.

Relationships take time and intentionality. They need to be built intentionally, and Super Saturday is a fantastic way to do it.

Here’s how it works. First of all, it doesn’t have to be on Saturday, despite the name, and it doesn’t have to be a whole day. It can be as long or as short as you want.

The idea is that each family member gets a “Saturday.” It doesn’t matter if you have three family members or ten family members — each person gets their turn, and they get to decide what the family does together.

They plan everything:

* what time everyone wakes up,
* what you eat for breakfast,
* where you eat breakfast,
* what you do for lunch,
* what activities you do throughout the day.

One really easy way to adapt this idea is by having “Super Evenings” instead. For example, maybe every Wednesday evening belongs to one family member. One of your children gets to design the entire evening.

They choose what time it starts — maybe at 5 PM. Maybe you all cook dinner together. Maybe you eat pizza or whatever their favorite meal is. Maybe everyone sits in the seats that person chooses at the dinner table.

Maybe that evening is game night, or maybe it’s watching their favorite movie — even if you’ve all seen it a million times. Maybe it’s a dance party or something completely different.

It depends on the age of the kids and their hobbies. They may need more guidance from you in creating the evening, or less guidance, depending on your family dynamics.

Anyhow, I just wanted to leave you with one quick, easy, amazing idea that you can implement multiple times in your household.

It can bring greater connection, help your child feel a stronger sense of belonging, help you feel more connected, and help your child feel like they matter — like they’re important.

Most importantly, it helps build the relationship, which I truly believe is the most important thing we have.

Depending on the age of your child, they may not be in the house much longer. If you have a junior in high school, you don’t have a lot of time left before they’re off to college, starting careers, exploring jobs, exploring life, and not living with you anymore.

Time is precious — precious, precious.

How many more years do you really have with your kiddo?

From what I see working with families, it feels like every six months these kids become completely different human beings. It’s all very precious.

With that, I want to wish you a healthy, safe, joyous, and peaceful day filled with connection.

Take care.

My name is Seth Perler, executive function coach in Colorado. If you liked this, give it a thumbs up, support me, and leave a comment below — that helps my YouTube channel grow.

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