The initial state of happiness about an own child is often overcome with annoyance after even a short period of time. Children quickly grow an own personality, and it's the most vital task of the parents to help develop it and give it a shape. Otherwise, the little angel can turn into a little devil adding considerably to the stress in life you already have.
Like everything else in life, child education is a tightrope walk between strictness and letting loose. Drifting off either way causes more problems than it solves. But of course what sounds clear and obvious in theory is much harder to actually apply practically.
The suggestions here are no rules to follow, they're mere guidelines and should animate own thoughts and ideas. After all, it's up to you what you think is best.
1. Discipline
During the first six month of its life, a baby won't yet be able to understand the connection between "bad behaviour" and punishment. What it really needs during that time is care and loving, to tighten the emotional bounds to its parents.
Nevertheless, even a baby that small is fully capable of repeating actions that lead to a pleasant result. So if any sob makes you appear immediately on the cradle, you'll find that you have a miniature dictator soon who keeps you up and running with joy.
Between seven and fourteen months, children normally start testing their limits. This results from a growth in both mobility and stubbornness, so what's being put on test are the parents' patience with keeping their little ones from exploring, often eating and probably destroying the reachable parts of the household and for how long they can get away with it.
Babies at that age start challenging their parents by stubborn disobedience, but that should not lead to punishment. Be firm and persistent in telling and showing them what they're not supposed to do, but don't be rude or harsh. Their concentration usually doesn't last, so distraction is a great weapon. They still need a lot of love, and your reward will be a happy time with a sometimes annoying, but mostly very cute baby.
Going towards an age of two years, the obstinacy takes often a negative direction: "No" is the preferred answer to all "propositions" ranging from eating and choice of toys to taking a bath and going to sleep.
Discipline can become considerably harder to apply, but is vital to steer the course of your child's further development. It has to learn that the authority and decision is with the parents. Still, love and forgiveness is of even importance. Especially the father's role as an authority for the child and support for his wife can make this period a lot easier.
With increasing mobility, skill and curiosity a child between two and three years can keep its mother constantly busy, taking every moment of silence as an indication of a new disaster involving eating things, messing around with things and getting stuck in things.
This can really add to the load of stress parents already have, and the explosive emotional or even physical reaction might ease the moment, but on the long term increases the problem. So be as relaxed as possible and make sure you've got all valuable pieces of household equipment properly secured. When children receive a bump or scratch that's no drama - turning it into one will just make you and your child over-freightened in the future. Still, with all calmness, don't miss to tell your child when it did wrong and discipline when it's overdoing it.
In the following years, the focus of education should be on the child's character and attitudes. The influence of trends, friends and media is strong, and the temptation to try new things is high. At the same time, the control parents have over their children's activities is reduced, and especially when it comes to trends parents often lack understanding for the things that are "in".
So even though your child becomes more independent, it's important that you have time together and show interest in its experiences, interests and problems. Offer to talk about things, but don't urge. Show understanding and always be there as someone your child can talk to without fear - remember the days when you were in that age, and your feelings at that time.
And, most important: Be a paradigm to your child. You cannot expect it to do something you don't have the power or courage to do yourself. Respect is nothing that can be taught, but has to be earned, even by parents.
2. Rules of thumb
- Be just!
Don't expect your child to behave according to rules you haven't set. Especially young children often can't distinguish between right and wrong. So even if something is clearly a stupid idea for you, it might seem a brilliant one to it.
- Be firm!
If you give in to your child's defiant reaction, maybe because you're just tired of the whole thing, you lose much more than that fight. You give away authority and respect.
- Forgive!
After a confrontation is settled, reassure your child of your love and show that you're not resentful.
- Don't ask for the impossible!
No matter what your means of education are like, you can't expect a child to behave like an adult. Children sometimes behave irresponsibly - that's built-in.
- Don't forget the love!
In the end, no matter how much trouble you might have with each other, don't forget to show that you love your child. And when it comes to decide how to educate, how to reward and how to discipline, listen to your heart what's the right thing to do.
Brigette Meier is an occassional author for http://www.e-nterests.com - visit the site for more interesting articles.
kitchen deep cleaning Deerfield ..21 Reasons I Love Being A DadWhat you will read... Read More
I'm sure many of you have heard that old Hallmark... Read More
If you had to spend 4 or 5 hours in... Read More
Most parents can hardly wait for their baby to say... Read More
Valentine day has always been a special day in my... Read More
Before going further into choosing computers for children, I believe... Read More
O.K. I've heard it a hundred times from my prison... Read More
Are you worried about your child's reading habits? Perhaps you... Read More
Today the little red school house is not what it... Read More
It used to strike me as odd - but really,... Read More
As a hypnotherapist, I am acutely aware of the power... Read More
My son recently had his third birthday party and it... Read More
The legend and myth of the Tooth Fairy is a... Read More
Suppose that you rearrange your life to homeschool your child... Read More
Here is a list of ways to convey the message... Read More
Volunteering together is a fantastic way to spend time as... Read More
Graphology for Child development.:- Graphology is the science of understanding... Read More
One of the biggest milestones in our children's education is... Read More
It happens every year. Just when you are settled in... Read More
Should a parent give a child a tangible reward when... Read More
Did you know that over 75% of teens aged 16-17... Read More
I am in pain. I've been in pain all day.... Read More
Time devoted the better part of an issue to it.... Read More
After giving up my profession to become a wife, a... Read More
Loving your step-child can be both simple and hard. It... Read More
interior house cleaning Highland Park ..Much has been said about the "gifted child" but in... Read More
You've just received a call from your child's teacher. As... Read More
Predicament:My son is 4 1/2 years old. His younger brother... Read More
Many parental units are not "techies" and openly admit they... Read More
How in the world do you get your child to... Read More
Strattera came out around January of 2003, and is becoming... Read More
There are many reasons for treating your twins as individuals... Read More
In our last issue we posted some of our suggested... Read More
"Now don't you go getting any ideas, Harold.""Don't you get... Read More
How would you like to have more time? Of course... Read More
For any of you Moms out there that are doing... Read More
One of my first memories of childhood is that of... Read More
If your parenting methods include abuse of any kind; physical,... Read More
Q. How do we decide what our teens should be... Read More
There are millions of young children in this country who... Read More
Winnie the Pooh is the classic picture of Inattentive ADHD.... Read More
What is hard for parentsLetting them learn from their mistakes.Trying... Read More
Seven-year old Michael was on a school trip to a... Read More
Many children who suffer from the psychological effects of child... Read More
Many parents struggle with solutions to put their child on... Read More
Everyone in a private practice setting who works with children... Read More
Former students would probably attest to the fact that few... Read More
Is your baby approaching his or her first birthday and... Read More
Although many children are picky eaters at some stage in... Read More
What should the goals for counseling be when the patient... Read More
Parenting |