Most parents want their kids to be well-behaved and exhibit good manners always. But they tend to worry when those good traits are not reflected in their kids’ behaviours.
For instance, no parent will shout for joy when his or her child is fond of begging for everything, either from mates, strangers or even the concerned parent.
How can one curb this kind of habit in a child so that the parents don’t get embarrassed someday?
1. Give your child clear signals. If you mean no, then be definite about it so your kid understands you mean what you are saying. Giving in after you have said no, or when they cry or scream, shows them your no is always up for debate.
Tell them why you’re saying no.
2.Always give a clear reason. It could be something as simple as, “We don’t have money for that today.”
3. Don’t feel guilty. As a parent, we want to give our children everything, but no’s are good for a child’s development as it teaches them that they can’t always have what they want.
4. Offer an alternative to work towards, such as, “I won’t buy you that today but when you get your allowance on Saturday, you can buy it.”
5. Teach your child delayed gratification. Showing your child that postponing immediate gain in favour of a later reward helps them regulate their impulse control.
6.Show them how to save as a kid and build a plan to get what they want. If it’s a big-ticket item, talk about setting up a savings goal that will get them closer to what they want week by week.
7.Set some ground rules. Make sure your kids know the rules for asking for things. This should help reduce the number of times you have to say no. For instance, before heading out, tell your kids that they can have a snack when they get home from the store or ‘don’t ask for anything while we are out.’
8.Give them a regular allowance. This is a powerful way to stop kids from asking for stuff, as it allows them to spend and save their own money and decide what’s important. This, in turn, helps to teach them the value of mone. All kids, even teens, get confused about wants and needs, mixing the two up and feeling that their wants are their needs. The more you can talk to them about this subject, with real-world examples, the better they will understand.
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