Raising children is a difficult thing. There are so many different facets and ideas and methods, it’s hard to know which ones to chose from. However, you are really the only one that can decide how your child should be raised.
In the early years, it’s all about teaching your kids to know how to behave. This way, when they are older they are socially acceptable, can get along with other people and are pleasant and respectful. Helping them to understand that everyone is equal will help our world get better as we go along. The further behind we us we can get racism and prejudice mentalities, the better off everyone will be.
With that in mind, we know that little children have a problem obeying, sharing and generally being nice. It’s in their nature to be mean and rude so as parents, it’s our job to teach them otherwise. But, what should we do when they won’t listen? If only raising our kids consisted of sitting around eating ice cream cups with tasting spoons. Unfortunately, that’s not real life so here’s a few ideas for helping your children behave that you may or may not agree with.
Spanking
Spanking is a very controversial issue. However, this is not referring to an abusive punching or hitting method, it is a very calm and controlled method of discipline. Leaving bruises or welts is never recommended. However, it is medically proven that children associate pain with actions. This is how they stop themselves from jumping off high heights or messing with fire and dangerous things as they get older. So, the little sting of a spank after doing something that they know they shouldn’t, will help them remember not to, next time.
Ignoring
Many parents choose to ignore the bad behavior of their children. This is probably the easiest way to deal with it. However, it is not dealing with it at all, it’s simply pretending it’s not going on so it might need to be implemented with another of these suggestions. However, the idea behind ignoring is that a child may be being bad only to get attention. If you do not pay attention to the bad behavior and save all your attention for the good behavior, they may start portraying more of the good in order to get you to interact with them.
Distracting
One of the most effective methods is trying to get your child away from a situation that is causing them to be distressed is to distract them with something else. For example, if you are at a play date and all the little kids are sitting around eating ice cream and your child has finished theirs, they will probably want more, whether it be from their friends’ bowls or a fresh bowl. Instead of giving in to the tantrum, you could take them outside and show the sand pit and the swings that are out there. This helps them to learn that there are other things that are fun and they can happen at the same time. You don’t have to do the one fun thing over and over again.
Rewarding
If you do to do any of the above suggestions, those ones focus on the negative behavior and how to change that. This idea of rewarding focuses on the positive behavior. You could discipline, distract or ignore the foolish behavior and then when your child does do something obedient or ‘good’ then you could offer them a reward like ice cream or a new toy. This is so that they associate good behavior with treats and things that they like. It doesn’t have to be ice cream or toys, it could also be a trip to the park or somewhere that they enjoy.
As mentioned earlier, you are the only one that can decide which of these methods is going to work for your child. If you decide that only one of them is going to happen in your household, or maybe a combination of all four; that is your prerogative. Each child reacts differently to things and you can’t allow other people to dictate how your child will be raised. That is between you and your spouse and others opinions should be ignored.
