Follow the Rules – Why is My Child not Doing What They are Told

In a perfect world, children would listen to their parents without a second thought. Unfortunately, the world is nowhere near perfect and kids don’t always do as they are told. The good news is that, as a parent, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Read on to learn how to get your child to follow the rules without bribing, threatening or screaming.

follow the rules

Follow the Rules – Why My Child isn’t Doing What They are Told

Be Adaptable

No two children the same. It’s for that reason that you need to be adaptable when it comes to getting your children to listen to you. Strong-willed children can be more of a challenge. You may have to establish consequences several times in order for them to follow the rules. If one consequence doesn’t seem to be doing the trick, the best thing to do is to try a new one.

Choose Your Battles

Don’t reinforce rules that don’t have major significance. For example, in the case of older children, don’t be so strict about things like making the bed the first thing in the morning. It’s more important for them to wear a helmet when riding a bike. Safety first.

When attempting to get your children to follow the rules, issue an appropriate time limit. Simply giving them a list of things to do, without a timeframe attached, means that what you’re asking them to do may never get done.

follow the rules

Be an Active Listener

It’s extremely important to listen to your children, regardless of how well they do what you ask. If they continue to disobey you, even after multiple attempts of being told what to do, take the time to sit down with them and ask them what the problem is. Getting down to the bottom of the issue will help you both understand the steps you should take to rectify the problem.

Follow Through

When you tell your child to do something, mean it. Following through is everything. Children who don’t obey only learn by being presented with a set of age-appropriate consequences. No consequences simply means that they can continue to ignore your requests without any major changes in their daily routine.

In addition, make sure your child is paying full attention to what you’re saying. Look them in the eyes to let them know that you mean business. Many parents make the mistake of yelling commands from another room. Typically, when this happens the request is taken much less seriously. If your child isn’t in the same room with you, ask him to come to you or take an extra minute and go to the child.

Stand your ground and never give in, no matter how tense the situation. If you give in once, your kids will remember that the next time they don’t want to listen. They’ll drag things out until you decide to give in again.

These are just a few simple things that you can do to get your child to listen the first time, without the need to threaten or beg. It may take a bit of time to achieve satisfactory results. But, with a little patience chances are you’ll soon see major improvement.

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