Helping Kids Get Ready For School
Am I the only one in the world that has issues getting my kids ready for school in the mornings? Sometimes it seems to be an endless battle. I know that the dynamics in each family are different according to how many kids verses how many parents. But I thought I would share my ideas in the chance that they might help some parents.
I have an ongoing difficulty with my 10 year old daughter, Rebekah. It doesn’t matter what time she wakes up in the morning, she seems to end up pottering around and then being late to school on a regular basis.
When dealing with a child who is reluctant to go to school, the first thing you must do is ask them if they are being bullied at school by another child. Often this will be the answer. But if not, at least you know that you will need to come up with a plan to deal with this problem.
It is important to find a positive way to deal with the problem if at all possible. Perhaps a sticker chart or something that they can get every day to start off with, depending on the age of the child. But early on the rewards should be pretty immediate. Then as the child catches on the rewards can be a bit further apart.
Think of all the possible ways to get your child interested in being on time in the mornings. Only if none of these work will you need to step up the pace and think of a negative consequence. This morning, unfortunately, my daughter threw tantrums and did all sorts of peculiar things which led me to believe that I needed to change my tactic just a little bit.
Becky is finally gone to school now and it’s time to dream up her consequence. Because she chose to throw a tantrum like a little child I have decided to deprive her of some things that are reserved for older girls. I shall be taking away her favorite earrings and also a few random items of “grown up” clothing. They will go up into my top cupboard. Beck will be devastated but I will explain to her that those kinds of things are reserved for girls who act their age and don’t throw tantrums.
We must remember to match the crime as closely as we can to the consequence given out. I am not even sure if I did it well today. However I will sit down with Beck this afternoon and explain to her why I did what I did.
In all of this I will give her a chance to lessen the consequence through improved behavior over the next couple of days. If she shows me that she can indeed get ready for school quickly without fussing or throwing a tantrum she will get something special that belongs to her back quite quickly. The end result is that Becky learns that she can control the quality of her life by her actions or inactions. And that is what we want our kids to learn.