Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day

Something we should make peace with – Rome wasn’t built in a day. This phrase should be implemented into your everyday parenting.

What very often happens in households is screaming and shouting, or in worse case scenarios, hitting, shaking, slamming doors and trying to scare the child into doing what you want them to do. This often happens as a result of overwhelm when trying to teach five-hundred-and-fifty-five things at the same time. There is always a lot to do. There’re always one-hundred-and-one things on our to-do list. Potty training, table manners, getting dressed, table manners, bedtime, and so the list can go on.

In order to avoid overwhelm, I urge you to Pick ONE particular area of improvement. Work on it with your child over an extended period of time until you can actually tick it off the list and say, “Yes! My child can now do this successfully so let’s move on to the next challenge”. I would advise working on one area for a month. Break your month into four weeks and set up small, bite-sized, manageable steps that you can follow and achieve on a weekly basis in order to set your child up for success.

Top tip: Pick your one particular area of improvement and find two or three language patterns to use on a consistent basis until your child understands what is required or what the acceptable behavior is.

Example: A toddler that is throwing food over the table and onto the floor. Repeat over and over again, “The food stays on the table, what you don’t like you can push aside.” You are much more likely to try and repeat these one-thousand-and-five times without losing your cool if you’re only working on this ONE particular behavior. If you were also working on bath time, bedtime, getting dressed, and so on, you are much more likely to flip your lid.