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Ok heres my response to the 8yo watching a movie and the mother wanting the child to go do homework. Parents NEED to understand the difference in age. Don't YO
by GrandMasterBirt 16y ago
Ok heres my response to the 8yo watching a movie and the mother wanting the child to go do homework.
Parents NEED to understand the difference in age. Don't YOU hate it when you have to stop watching a movie you are interested in mid-way and do something you don't want to. Well a child has a harder time coping. Imagine your mother walks in on you fucking your girlfriend, and says in a pleasant voice (she ain't being a bitch) "honey, please get out of her and wash the dishes". Imagine the response you will have. Now imagine the request "honey, I know I'm heavily intruding but you haven't done the dishes in 3 days and I am hungry, so finish up in 15 minutes and wash the damn dishes!" I assure you the second scenario will make YOU feel responsible for the fact that this shit happened, maybe even embarrassed. But the message is VERY different. There was no painless way to get into the situation but it was as painless as possible given the circumstances and the blame now lies in the appropriate party.
You need to alert the child that "homework is coming" give em a few minutes to cope, make sure they understand they have a few minutes and let that brain work at the coping, it just takes time. Be consistent with it. Also important to let the child know why it's their fault they have to stop, if the child did the homework first the child would have the ability to watch the movie without interruption. (make sure to not go back on your word, because that will not help later on). Now if the movie is on disk, let the child know you can pause and resume later, if not, hell 5 bucks to download the movie and let your kid watch it is worth it.
With children every potential conflict can be turned into a learning experience one way or another. The problem is the going up to a child "turn of the tv and do homework". To a child that might be too sudden and too intense to immediately cope with.
I am 26 years old and already me and my wife noticed these little things. Most the conflicts with my 3.5year old is avoided. AND she does what we want her to do. Sometimes we turn chores into a game, sometimes we turn something she dreads into something "fun" because we join her. Also PICK YOUR CONFLICTS. Believe it or not, the child will want to do things differently than you do. Sometimes the way the kid wants to do it is alright, so let them have their way. The child NEEDS to feel some control over their life, give them inconsequential choices "red or blue shirt" fine it does not match, who cares.
You will have to dedicate yourself to the kids, but thats what parenting is about.
- jules 16y ago> Also PICK YOUR CONFLICTS. Believe it or not, the child will want to do things differently than you do. Sometimes the way the kid wants to do it is alright, so let them have their way. The child NEEDS to feel some control over their life, give them inconsequential choices "red or blue shirt" fine it does not match, who cares. This is very important. I don't have kids but I have been one. When I see parents micro managing their kids I feel sorry for them. Let your kids explore and decide and learn. Make "yes" the default answer.
- darnton 16y agoAbsolutely. Let your kids make mistakes. Let them do things wrong. Let them make odd decisions. The best thing you can do for your children is help them to become good decision makers and the best way to do that is to let them make lots of decisions. You can still make your values known and prevent damage and injury but let them do as much as possible and learn what works. A great introduction to this type of thinking is Unconditional Parenting by Alfie Kohn.
- jessriedel 16y ago> Make "yes" the default answer. This is really the key idea. I am blown away by how many parents make themselves and their children miserable by just saying "no" without thinking about.
- prototype56 16y agoIf my boss walks in on me watching a movie at work and asks me to get back to work. I would have no problem "coping" with that and a getting back to work . My boss doesnt send me an alter that work is coming . There is never a "conflict". Not sure where all this advice for obsessive parenting is coming from, lets enjoy our time with our kids instead of designing alert systems or obsessing over their physcology . Kids are not small sized adults .Please... I grew up in shut the TV and do the homework world ..yea it sucked but its not any worse than many other things that i had no control upon.
- Tichy 16y ago