Trying to teach a toddler rules can be pretty challenging. Before you know it, you end up with so many rules that they just can’t remember or comprehend what you are trying to convey. It can get frustrating for all parties.
To keep it simple in our house, John came up with three rules that we think can be applied to pretty much any situation and so far have worked out very well.
1. Respect
2. Always Help
3. Be Nice
So, every time Alex does something out of line or he needs to take step back from a situation, we review our rules. He has them memorized, but I can’t keep them straight for the life of me.
The other day, he kicked me while I was changing his diaper and I said “That was not kind, Alex, what is rule #2?” he tentatively said “Two. Always help.” Then I heard John laughing in the other room, because my reference to the rules didn’t really apply to our current situation. Maybe it did a little bit, but it was not the rule I was going for! I’m still working on it =]
It’s nice to have a consistent set of rules to fall back on and it also helps us to not lose our cool every time Alex misbehaves. We keep them up on our fridge in a little frame so we always have a reminder.
Do you have any set rules in your house or are you more go-with-the-flow type parents? We are usually pretty “flowy” ourselves, but have found these simple rules to be very helpful.
If you like our rules, feel free to steal them and put them up in your house, too!
