Sometimes being a parent or carer can be a very challenging but rewarding job. Everyone needs a bit of help support and we have outlined some ideas to help with the challenging role of being a parent.
Managing Misbehaviour
- Disciplining a child does not work if you don’t give the child praise and positive attention as well.
- Attention and encouragement for good behaviour will mean an increase in that behaviour and less unwanted behaviour.
- To deal with this unwanted behaviour you must be;
- Immediate. Deal with it then and there.
- Consistent. They get in trouble for it every time they do it.
- Decisive. Make a decision and stick to it, even if you think later that you weren’t completely correct.
- Ground Rules: Tell them what to do, eg; Use nice words when we talk to each other.
- Talking about the rules: When they don’t use nice words, remind them of the rules and ask them to use nice words instead.
- Ignoring: Deciding before they do something you don’t like, what you will do about it.
- Giving instructions: Go to your child, look them in the eyes (if you can) and stay as calm as possible.
- Logical Consequences: Thinking of common sense penalties or punishments for unwanted behaviour.
- Quiet time: space away from what the child was doing but still in the area. Chill time or deep breath time.
- Time out: Time in a designated spot for an amount of time as punishment for unwanted actions.
REMEMBER……. Only tackle one issue at a time.
- It sometimes gets worse before it gets better.
- Remember, it does work eventually. This has been tested before by lots of other parents and carers.
- If you stop and don’t use it for a while for any reason, that’s ok, you can always start again.
- Cuddle and kiss them and tell them you love them even though they drive you crazy!
