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Topic: Getting Toddlers to Listen
| Author | Message |
| makingtracks | Posted – 2/20/2008 5:07:29 PM | show profile | email poster Got any great tricks for getting toddlers to listen? Inspired or funny or surprising methods for turning no, no, no to YES? I am on assignment for an article on inventive and fun ways to get toddlers to listen (when you want them to pick up toys or go to bed, etc.). Moms' and Dads' ideas welcome. Please send me your thoughts--deadline is approaching! Thanks. |
| makingtracks | Posted – 2/22/2008 12:30:09 AM | show profile | email poster Need Your Ideas I am still looking for Moms and Dads who have discovered a way to get toddlers to listen and maybe even cooperate. A brief anecdote or two is all I need. Thanks. |
| aj | Posted – 2/22/2008 12:39:49 PM | show profile Make a Game out of Everything "Let's see if you can put on your socks before I get to five...bet you can't!" "Who can pick up the most toys...me or you? Bet it's me!" "Let's brush teeth to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and see how it works!" And now you see why my writing suffers... |
| writesonwater | Posted – 2/23/2008 1:11:19 AM | show profile I like trying questions instead of commands. The game thing mentioned above comes in here ... When things are routine, they're boring. With their tiny attention spans, toddlers resist inflicted boredom. Questions, games, etc. distract from boring. |
| FeaturesGal | Posted – 2/25/2008 2:01:26 PM | show profile Somehow, my husband has managed to get our kids to clean up the living room every night before bed. They are 2 and 3. I guess, for me, there's just a certain amount of routine in our days so that they know what is expected of them...And, well, if that doesn't work, we do the old Time Out routine of "If you pick up that block and throw it again, you will go to time out." A couple times of testing that one out and even my 2-year-old starts to listen. |
| makingtracks | Posted – 2/25/2008 2:11:21 PM | show profile | email poster Please contact me about toddler ideas Thanks aj, writesonwater, and FeaturesGal. I was watching my Inbox and missed your great comments/ideas. I would like to use a couple of your ideas, but need you to contact me at my e-mail addy, as I have to have a name to quote for parent anecdotes--just click on my profile. My deadline is tomorrow night, so I hope to hear from you soon. Thanks. |
| makingtracks | Posted – 2/25/2008 2:12:47 PM | show profile | email poster CORRECTION Sorry, that should be "CLICK on e-mail poster" in my last post. |
| stephanie13 | Posted – 3/17/2008 12:32:53 PM | show profile | email poster I don't know if it's too late for your deadline or not. This one is by way of my petsitter, and I'm paraphrasing heavily. She was in a Wal-Mart on a search for painkillers and groceries, and she was in the middle of a hectic day, with just 10 minutes to shop, while having a splitting headache. Somewhere in the midst of the chaos of Wal-Mart, a child was... unhappy. Shrieking his head off, I believe is the phrase she used. She tracked the kid by sound, and found a young boy (she said about 7, but his behavior sounds much younger, or a very immature 7) who was shrieking and kicking his mother and grandmother. The ladies kept trying to placate him, with "what's *wrong*" and "What can we do?" My petsitter approached the mother and said "Excuse me, ma'am. May I have a word with your son?" The mother agreed, and stepped back. Putting on her meanest witch face, the petsitter leaned forward and said "Stopit! You are being a big baby. Look at yourself. A big, spoiled baby. I am going to go do my shopping, and if I hear one peep outta you, I'm coming back here to give you the spanking of your life. You hear me?" The kid, startled by her really mean tone and words, nodded. Petsitter walked off. From the next aisle over, she heard the kid start sniffling and whining, and the mom and grandmother said things like "She was right-- you are being a big baby. You stop it right now." Not the *nicest* way to get a kid to listen, but it was really effective. Sometimes it helps to make the consequences extend further than the family circle-- a bit of a reality check, really. We all have to live in a world filled with Other People, after all. |
