35
This parent is of the strong opinion that if the kid does not eat a proper amount for every meal, on a structured timetable the kid will fall behind (growth wise, intelligence wise, discipline wise).
Simply put, this parent is wrong. Pressuring children to eat is not only unnecessary, but actively harmful: studies have shown that it leads children to both ...
32
I've read that children often overhear the "not" part of a request --
Instead of saying "don't do X" they hear "do X".
Instead of telling what not to do, tell them what you want them to do.
Instead of saying "don't sing at the dinner table", say "dinner time is only for talking."
In your example, she seems to have an urge to sing - because she can't stop, ...
answered Jul 13 '15 at 9:32
Torben Gundtofte-Bruun
33.8k17 gold badges103 silver badges205 bronze badges
15
Fix the problems between you and your wife and everything else will fall into place. First things first. There can be no positive structured environment for the kids without a positive, healthy and respectful relationship between Mama and Daddy.
and... listen, 5 & 2 years of age may be a little early for independent conflict resolution.
13
First of all, you must check your country's laws. In Poland it's illegal to leave children without supervision when they're under 7 years old (there are several exceptions though).
You should allow your kids to go out alone as soon as possible, but not sooner than they're ready:) And if and only if you are ready for that. I think it is important for the ...
12
Your mother may think she's acting in loco parentis, so I'll answer this.
Are these rules a form of bullying? Or are they status quo and most parent's would enforce them given these circumstances?
They are certainly overbearing and ill-considered, but I'm not sure I would call it bullying. As to whether most parents would do this, you'd have to ask most ...
11
Children, but adults also, tend to accept request better if you motivate it. I know it can be hard sometimes, but that also forces you to think about WHY you're exactly asking that and eventually not even ask.
Please stop singing cause mommy is tired and would appreciate a little silence.
Please put your jacket cause it's raining outside and if you're wet ...
11
There is no reason not to speak to the neighbors, find out about their routine & figure something out that is reasonable & respects everyone involved. I have a neighbor whose teen is in a band & they like to do band practice in the garage that is set apart from their house, but very near to my home. I take no issue with them holding practice. ...
9
Whether its to visit a friend who lives a few streets away, or going to the park by themselves, or going to the local shop, at what age do you allow your kids to go out by themselves?
My younger son is 12 and he knows how to ride the bus to a couple of places, but he doesn't know how to transfer to a second bus yet. He can walk to a friend's house. He can ...
9
This might sound like a total cliche, but have you tried to get him to participate in extracurricular activities? Our daughter, a bit younger than your son, has really started to show more confidence in herself since she started tae kwon do. It sounds like he could use the balance a different atmosphere and environment, not to mention a different set of ...
9
First, my recommendation would be the toy goes away. Just because it was paid for doesn't mean it isn't stealing; she stole from you instead of the store. Keeping the toy implies that the offense wasn't all THAT severe.
The problem with punishment here is that the time frame between the offense and the punishment might be kind of long for it to really ...
8
I've found that even though I'm speaking the same language they know, they sometimes don't fully hear or understand, and even when they do they believe that if they change their activity slightly then the problem will be resolved without having to cease it entirely.
So before I assume ill intent, I first assess whether they understand what I'm asking. Then ...
7
I'd say the basic premise is to always encourage progression.
Stage 1 is to ensure they can do the basics - can they dribble and pass a football or do they know how each chess piece can move? For example, my infant son can't control his direction of travel whilst dribbling a ball, so I ignore the boundaries of the pitch.
Stage 2 is for you to demonstrate ...
7
Humans communicate very ambiguously, requiring a lot of cultural experience to be able to discern our full meaning. Eight-year-olds are right in the sweet spot, where it seems like they should know your full meaning, but they often don't.
For example, if my eight-year-old is doing something like singing at an inappropriate time, and I ask him to "please be ...
7
There are a couple of stumbling blocks you may be encountering, but first, I'd just like to say, many children have to be taught how to either reign in their over-developed sense of everyone bowing to their needs and whims, or they need to be taught how to speak up for themselves. When these two extremes are balanced, it can be referred to as self-advocacy. ...
7
The job of an adult is to raise another competent, functional adult that can manage themselves in the real world, not to raise a child that must always be managed by others.
The only thing that having a set bed time for an 18 year old accomplishes is that they don't get a chance to learn how to manage their own tiredness/schedule/etc, and so they'll likely ...
7
I personally think any black-or-white approach to substances or behaviours that may be harmful in excess is not the best way to choose.
I will on purpose ignore legal aspects for most of this answer (but see the bottom for that topic).
We as parents are responsible to teach our children moderation and how to deal with temptation. We know that too much ...
6
We use the 1.2.3 rule, and I'm a computer programmer, and my oldest son (6 years old) loves math. Just because you use numbers, it doesn't mean they will relate that to math. My now-1st grader loves addition, subtraction, even does simple (6x3 type) multiplication. We have, however, used 1..2..3 since he was little to let him understand that we need his ...
6
Be sure to check the laws where you live. Legal and reasonable don't always overlap.
When I was growing up in Canada, at 3-4 we would cross the street or go to the neighbors house alone. By 5 i and all of my friends were walking a half mile to the grocery store on errands and to school alone. By 8 my "alone" roaming range covered a radius of roughly 5 ...
6
This is one of the harder things we deal with as well; parents who have different rules than us, in both directions. Some of our (nearly 7 year old) son's friends' parents are more strict about certain things, some less. Some of his friends play more violent video games than we're comfortable with, some play with toy guns; but some don't play any video ...
5
I think you should ignore her and try not to get attached to the outcome of such behaviours.
Because, may be she likes singing and probably thinks why are you having trouble with her singing. If it annoys you may be try to engage her by giving her some job or start asking questions about her friends, schools, home work and listen to her and keep the ...
4
My son has fewer qualms about breaking the rules, but a similar misunderstanding of when it's okay or not to make an exception to a rule. There are rules about when it's okay to make an exception to a rule, and some kids just plain have a hard time learning those compared to other children.
My son gets upset because he sees someone else getting away with ...
4
First of all, it takes children a long time and a lot of repetition to learn such things. That's why you rarely see three year-olds living on their own.
Second, children respond differently to different adults. It's very common for children to be much more obedient to their father than their mother. Your wife may very well be trying harder than you are ...
4
I agree mostly with @Mikaveli but I would like to show another point of view based on my own experience (I cant comment yet so I answer).
When I was a child my father and me played chess, soccer, videogames... But I always felt he was not doing his best. This annoyed me because I wanted real challenges (which he could have given me) but even with him ...
4
Set boundaries mostly by making the setup more easy for the children to stay within boundaries, reminding them to do so, praising when they do so, and (less frequently) saying "no" and/or punishing for breaking the boundaries. Be patient and consistent. It is normal for the child to be curious and test the boundaries, and for parents to set the limits.
In ...
4
As video game addictions go, Pokemon Go is one of the better ones. The value of having your child outside and walking around is tremendous.
I see two possibilities here. Either he is actually addicted to the game (and if you take it away he will find another less healthy one to obsess over) or he is craving more daddy time.
Either way the answer is the ...
answered Aug 21 '19 at 15:08
Francine DeGrood Taylor
8,8823 gold badges13 silver badges29 bronze badges
4
I would say while Screentime is always an important decision, in this case I see it as substantially more positive than negative.
Addressing your concerns
He isn't isolated or using it to avoid social contact, in fact it is a bonding opportunity with his father, it is fairly rare to have an activity a child and parent both genuinely enjoy so this is a ...
3
My 7 year old (turned 7 for months ago) just recently earned the privilege of going to a nearby park alone. It's within sight of our windows, no more than 150 yards from our apartment. She's given a time to be back home and this far has always come in a few minutes early. She's loving the independence. To watch her, you'd think she was allowed to go across ...
3
We've found that having toys is much more of a net negative — particularly the distraction aspect. This is especially the case once the kids get a little older, and the toy of choice is more complex (e.g. Legos being assembled at the table) or expensive (e.g. a flashlight, a talking robot thing). Who wants to eat boring spaghetti when they could be literally ...
3
I wouldn't worry about this- it's the act of counting, showing the time in which he has to act is decreasing, and not the actual numbers themselves that he will be responding too.
Kids are tougher than you think- using numbers in this way isn't going to give your child a fear of maths.
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