Small Children
Unruly Child
Submitted by Nicholeen on Mon, 04/12/2010 - 01:59
"My question, as it relates to the above entries and to my four year old is what to do when he will not stay in time-out (on our washer)? He will not stay there. He runs after me, screaming. I put him back - try hard to do it calmly and sometimes I have tried to keep him there using my hands to keep his legs on the washer, but then I feel like I am forcing him and it all goes down hill from there."
I wrote an answer to a similar question over a year ago. It is called "Tantrums, Time-out and Tired Moms." The article should answer most of your questions. It is alright to do a soft hold with a child to help him learn to want to stay on time-out himself to calm down, but you are right about it being a sort of "force."
Parenting Questions: What to do when they think they are the parent
Submitted by Nicholeen on Wed, 03/31/2010 - 09:27
Question:
"The biggest struggle we have with my son is that he wants to be the parent - he wants to be in control, not necessarily of my husband and I, but of the rest of the kids (he's #2 of 5). For instance, this morning he made himself a "dessert sandwich" (he just made this up, bread with butter and cinnamon on it) before breakfast, but got mad and yelled at our 2 year old for getting into the fridge to get an apple while he still had the sandwich in his hand. Even me standing there saying "It's okay, she can have the apple" didn't calm things right away. ALL THE TIME he gets after his siblings for things he sees as wrong, but he himself can do no wrong, even if he's doing the same things they are."
About Parents
I love how at the beginning of this question you say that your son thinks he's the parent and then at the end you say that he can do no wrong even though he is doing the same thing. These two statements together in the same paragraph make me smile because that is just what most parents really do. They get after the children for doing what they, the parents, are doing all the time too. These parents for some reason feel like if they don't have to look at their short comings in their children then the short comings aren't really there and don't need to be addressed.
I will never forget
Toddlers with Tantrums
Submitted by Nicholeen on Wed, 03/24/2010 - 20:56
Category:
"Where am I going wrong?!?!?!?! I had started to think that things were on the up, but lately it seems as though my daughter's behaviour has taken a nosedive. I think she's just asserting herself but I find it hard to stay calm when she does. She ignores me very often or when she does respond to something, it's usually with a "no" or "I don't want to!".
Television clips from today ~Parenting Tips
Submitted by Nicholeen on Fri, 03/12/2010 - 18:07
Today we had a great day with Debbie and Ron on The KJZZ morning show hosted by KUTV2 news station. Below are the links to the two segments we appeared in. Today's topic was consequences and how to choose them.
Segment one: http://connect2utah.com/content/fulltext/?cid=79502
Segment Two: http://connect2utah.com/media_player.php?media_id=119902
Hitting Toddlers - Parenting Advice
Submitted by Nicholeen on Wed, 01/27/2010 - 23:49
Category:
This is a copy of an email from Amiee Kieffer, author of http://momzoo.blogspot.com/
I thought it would be helpful to many others.
Nicholeen
Your parenting methods have really changed things around here. I could go on and on about it!
I am still at a loss on how to do this all with my 2 year old. He does well with pre-teaching most of the time, and sometimes I can get his attention long enough to talk to him (he has such a funny “serious” face that I have a hard time not laughing!). His biggest problem is with hitting, he hits one of his sisters a least once a day, usually out of frustration. Usually I take him aside and hold his offending arm firmly and say “No Hit” then I pat his face soft and say “Soft, soft” I then have him pet my face soft, then we go to the person whom he hit and we pat her and say “touch soft”. What are your thoughts on this?
Parenting Toddlers and Parenting Teenagers ~Family Government in Action
Submitted by Nicholeen on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 19:56
Category:
Parenting Toddlers ~ Small Successes
Nicholeen,
I've been working with my son Jack for the last six months to appropriately accept correction. He's 21 months old. He'll do something inappropriate, I'll tell him the right thing to do and then say, "You say, 'OK, mom.'" I've been wondering, over the course of the months, if my efforts were in vain. Was he too young? Would he ever get it?
Tips For Using Time-out With Toddlers
Submitted by Nicholeen on Wed, 12/30/2009 - 00:47
Category:
"My 2yo has started crying a LOT the past few days. Over every little thing. Nothing is different physically or environmentally that I can tell. He already has his 2yo molars, too.. He's just been crying about everything that he doesn't like, with some pretty good tantrums thrown in the mix of the average crying. I tried holding him in timeout (he's never stayed in time out on his own so far), but he screamed and threw a serious tantrum the whole time.. which wouldn't be a problem for me except that I have to take care of the other kids, too! I tried holding him in our time-out spot until he was done with the tantrum so I could praise him for being happy, etc., but after 40 minutes of continuous screaming, my baby was also crying, needing to be fed, and the other young kids had destroyed the basement. At that point I just took him to his bed to finish his crying fit. So I'm thinking the holding in time out option might not work for us. Yesterday and today I've started just taking him to his room when he starts having a breaking down crying fit. What would you suggest? Do you think I should just take him to his room every time he cries? Or should I try
Are You In Crisis?
Submitted by Nicholeen on Sat, 12/12/2009 - 17:02
The first page of Parenting A House United says:
"Is your home in crisis? Do your children never do what they are told? Do you find yourself completely overwhelmed and hating to interact with your children? Do your children treat you with disrespect and cause contention at home? Are you out of control of your emotions as a parent too? If any of these descriptions sound like your house, then you might be in crisis and you will definitely benefit from reading this book. It is written for you.
This book is also written for people who don't want to ever have a home like I have described above and for parents who want to have an effectively communicating family right from the very beginning of parenthood."
If you consider yourself or your family in a crisis situation where you need a few quick tools to start changing things immediately at home then this post is for you. Hundreds of people have bought the book at this point and some need to start implementing things before they have even read the whole book. Below are a few key chapters to read immediately to start making some useful changes before diving in and reading the whole book.
Consequences
Submitted by Nicholeen on Tue, 12/08/2009 - 23:25
My problem is that I never can think of appropriate consequences when my kids misbehave. Do you have any suggestions? I have five children ages 9-18. Thanks, Amy
Consequences can be difficult to think up, but the trick is to only do it one time. A parent who has to reinvent the consequence every time a lesson needs to be taught will come across as uncertain and flustered. Have a plan. Parents who have a plan are more secure to be around and will be more respected by their children.
My rules for consequences are these:
Runaway Two Year Old
Submitted by Nicholeen on Sat, 11/28/2009 - 13:19
Category:
Q: "With my 2 and half yr old. She frequently will run away from me when I call her, wanting to turn it into a game of chase. Sometimes this is at a store or getting into the car, sometimes it is when she needs a diaper change etc. I have tried to do roll playing games with her to help praise her for coming or following instructions. She loves this game, but won't always do it in real life. I am not sure the best way to help her want to obey or what should be the consequence for failing to follow an instruction at age 2. I feel like I am doing too much reasoning with her, which I feel is really not the most effective thing with a 2 year old, but I am not sure what else to do so she starts to understand the consequences of her actions. I have lately been feeling very frustrated and out of control with her. I hate feeling that way and I could really use some ideas."
A:
Pre-teaching her to come when called before it is ever time is a great thing to do to prepare her to repeat the behavior at the right time. Great Job! Keep doing that.
As well as pre-teaching, is sounds like you need to establish a consequence system just for her. You can
