They say a child is like molding
a pot. You have to carefully shape it to a desirable piece before
it gets hard. It is easier to turn these molds into works of art
when they are still soft, and it is too late to do such a thing
once they dry up. This is the reason why it is important to teach
your child good values at a very young age. Infuse values while
they are still young because the chance of success is greater during
his early years.
The best thing to teach a child is the value of discipline. It is
one of the core values of children. If your child has this, he will
religiously do his chores. If you bought him a play
kitchen for instance, he will take responsibility for it, without
being told.
Instilling discipline in your child’s well being is easier
said than done. Most parents have difficulty with staying firm with
their decisions especially when their children start to cry because
they didn’t get what they want. But you have to put some boundaries
and let them know that they will face consequences if they disobey
you.
One of the best ways to instill the value of discipline into your
child’s life is by giving him a task early on. The task has
to be something that he can easily relate to. A perfect task to
give your child is picking and organizing his toys. Let’s
go back to his play
kitchen set, tell him that after he plays with it, he has to
organize all of its components. He has to return all the utensils
he used back to its place. He also has to pick and arrange the toy
fruits and vegetables he prepared in the counter. Set consequences
if ever he fails to perform his duties. Tell him that he won’t
be allowed to play with his other toys or participate in his friend’s
games if he doesn’t clean up his mess.
Telling your child to clean and organize his kitchen
play or other toys for that matter is tough. But you have to
live by your rules so that he will learn. If you let him get away
with it even once, he will feel that he can get away with it all
the time. Teaching him to be responsible for his toys is very challenging
at the beginning, but once your child has made it a habit, it won’t
seem like a task for him. If your child is disciplined, it will
be easier to teach him how to be responsible.
Some parents tell their kids to do something and promise them rewards
if they get it done. Although this will motivate them to obey your
orders, it is not advisable to bribe your kids to oblige. Instead
of bribes, show appreciation and acknowledgement. Tell them how
nice it is to look at his clean retro
play kitchen. Don’t let them get used to getting something
out of every good deed because this will teach them to expect something
in return for things they should be doing in the first place.
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