About
Children
Power Of Choice
Elizabeth Pantley
Would you like to get
your kids to willingly cooperate?
Stop the daily battles?
Teach your kids valuable life skills?
If your answer is Yes! Yes! Yes!, then read on...
There
are so many things we must get our children to do and so many things
me must stop them from doing! Get up. Get dressed. Don’t dawdle. Do
your homework. Eat. It goes on and on. We can get our kids to
cooperate and at the same time allow them to learn self discipline
and develop good decision making skills. How? By offering choices.
Giving a choice is a very powerful tool that can be used with
toddlers through teenagers. This is one skill that every parent
should have tattooed on the back of his or her hand as a constant
reminder. Parents should use this skill every day, many times a day.
Giving children choices is a very effective way to enlist their
cooperation because children love having the privilege of choice. It
takes the pressure out of your request, and allows a child to feel
in control. This makes a child more willing to comply.
Using choice is an effective way to achieve results, and when you
get in the habit of offering choices you are doing your children a
big favor. As children learn to make simple choices—Milk or
juice?—they get the practice required to make bigger choices—Buy two
class T-shirts or one sweatshirt?—which gives them the ability as
they grow to make more important decisions—Save or spend? Drink beer
or soda? Study or fail? Giving children choices allows them to learn
to listen to their inner voice. It is a valuable skill that they
will carry with them to adulthood.
You should offer choices based on your child’s age and your intent.
A toddler can handle two choices, a grade-school child three or
four. A teenager can be given general guidelines. Offer choices such
that you would be happy with whatever option your child chooses.
Otherwise, you’re not being fair. For example, a parent might say,
“Either eat your peas or go to your room” but when the child gets up
off his chair, the parent yells, “Sit down and eat your dinner,
young man!” (So that wasn’t really a choice, was it?)
Here are some ways in which you can use choice:
Do you want to wear your Big Bird pajamas or your Mickey
Mouse pajamas?
What pair of shorts would you like to wear today?
Do you want to do your homework at the kitchen table or
the desk?
Would you rather stop at the gas station or give me the
money to fill the tank?
Do you want to wear your coat, carry it, or put on a
sweatshirt?
Would you prefer to let the dog out in the yard or take
him for a walk?
Do you want to run up to bed or hop like a bunny?
What do you want to do first, take out the trash or dry
the dishes?
Do you want to watch five more minutes of TV or ten?
Will you do your homework now, after dinner, or shall I
wake you at six tomorrow? |
A typical problem with choices is the child who makes up his own
choice! For example, “Taylor, do you want to put on your pajamas
first, or brush your teeth?” To which little Taylor answers, “I want
to watch TV.” What to do? Just smile sweetly and say, “That wasn’t
one of the choices. What do you want to do first, put on your
pajamas or brush your teeth?”
If your child is still reluctant to choose from the options that you
offer, then simply ask, “Would you like to choose or shall I choose
for you?” If an appropriate answer is not forthcoming then you can
say, “I see that you want me to choose for you.” Then follow
through. Make your choice and help your child — by leading or
carrying him — so that he can cooperate.
A mother in one of my classes reported using this skill with great
success at home. It was after dinner and she said to her husband,
“Honey, would you like to clean up the dishes or put the kids to
bed?” He responded, “Hey! You’re using that choice this in me!” (All
the skills presented in my book will work with adults, too.)
From the
book: "Kid Cooperation, How to Stop Yelling, Nagging, Pleading and
Get Kids to Cooperate" by Elizabeth Pantey
Click
here
to visit Elizabeth's web site and peruse her full range of books and
services.
Parenting educator Elizabeth Pantley is president of Better
Beginnings Inc., a family resource and education company.
Pantley frequently speaks to parents in schools, hospitals, and
parent groups, and her presentations are received with enthusiasm
and praise.
'Behold, I will bring them from the north country, And gather them
from the ends of the earth,
Among them the blind and the lame,
The woman with child and The one who labors with child, together,
A
great throng shall return there...And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the LORD.'
Jeremiah 31:8, 14
~~~
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August 2010
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