Online Parent

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 great difficulty with my 10 year old daughter each morning. No matter what time I wake her up she seems to dawdle and end up rushing to get out the door at the very last minute. Often she is late for school because she cuts it too fine.

The most important thing to do when you have a child like this is to find out if they are being bullied at school. Once you rule that out then you can concentrate on fixing the problem.

Always try something positive to start off with. An example of this might be a sticker chart and at the end of the week a trip to buy ice cream if they have stickers for every day. Make the reward immediate and something that the child likes in order to motivate them. And as your child gets better you can then start to make the rewards 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 has left for school now, about ten minutes late, and I am left to decide what consequence will help her to learn a lesson. Remember that a consequence should be given in order to help a child learn that it is simply not worth it. I am thinking of removing a few things from her room to go up into my top cupboard: some rather grown up earrings that Beck should not be wearing if she is still throwing tantrums plus a few grown up items of clothing more suitable for an older, more mature child.

Always try to match the crime to the punishment. In my case I am letting Becky know that because she threw a tantrum she should not be wearing grown up clothes. Make sure that you talk through it with the child so they understand why you are doing what you do.

I shall have a chat to Beck after school today and explain my reasons behind my actions. The good thing is that I will give her a chance to earn her clothes and jewellery back very quickly. If she can show me three days getting off to school on time again I will quickly produce her favorite earrings again. I want to show her that the quality of her life is directly related to the decisions that she makes.