As anyone with kids will know, parenting can be hard. For all the joyful, rewarding moments you spend with your kids, there are other times where you feel like you’re banging your head against a brick wall. One of the hardest things to do is to instill good habits into your kids, especially in matters that they initially take against. You might think you start to sound like a broken record as you tell them over and over again to clear their plate or brush their teeth until it feels like you’re going mad. However, don’t despair. Sometimes all it takes is a small change of tack to finally get them on the right track and building up those good habits for life.
Finishing a Meal
It’s a classic, right? Kids always seem to leave a portion of food on their plate at the end of a meal – often vegetables or something else they don’t like too much. It can be a massive struggle to change this habit. Importantly, it’s never a good idea to offer more food as a reward for finishing (dessert, for example) as this will promote over-eating and seeing sweet treats as something to be desired. Instead, encourage your kids to only serve themselves as much as they will eat at the start – if they serve themselves, they then must eat everything they take. This promotes self-sufficiency and responsibility. If your problem is more about the type of foods they leave – green vegetables, for example – encourage your child to eat these first, rather than leaving them to the end to be discarded.
Brushing Their Teeth
Teeth brushing is often a major issue as kids find it boring and don’t understand its benefits. Rather than trying to convince them of the importance of oral health, find ways to turn it into a game. Can you make teeth brushing into a fun activity you do together, with challenges and even an element of competition? Really fun toothbrushes may also help with younger kids. It’s also a good idea to get your kids into the habit of seeing the dentist from a young age, so they don’t develop a fear of infrequent visits as they grow older. You may wonder is teeth cleaning safe for your child in a professional setting, but your dentist will know exactly how to approach young teeth as opposed to an adult’s cleaning. Furthermore, they might have much more luck explaining the importance of brushing your teeth to them than you can!
Polite Manners
This is perhaps the most nebulous area, but instilling polite manners into your child will last them a lifetime. Rather than enforcing rules, make sure you are leading by example and always speaking to your child with the respect and politeness you would expect from them. Young people are like sponges – they absorb everything that they see around them – and the more you can show them kindness and good manners, the more they will take this into their own behavior. Make sure they understand the reasons behind polite manners rather than simply conforming to arbitrary rules. Teach them the basic guidelines of respect, empathy, and consideration, and the rest will fall much more easily into place.
