Its not what you say
Are they listening to you or not? You probably think they aren’t, but young children are listening they simply are not “responding” the way “you feel” they should. This is because in most instances parents don’t take the time at that moment to down shift from adult level communication to child level talking and reasoning. As a parent it is your responsibility to comprehend that children “talk and reason” in a childlike level and manner based on their extremely limited learning and experience foundation.Most parents have a busy adult schedule especially at home and they make requests of children “in the moment”. Those requests often generate little response because of several reasons:
- Parents don’t “break the pattern” of what the child is focused on at that time.
- They speak and make requests on an adult level that children can’t grasp.
- They expect the child to “reason” like an adult with limited knowledge.
Young children simply will not and cannot reason or respond like an older person with more knowledge and experience. Children live in a world of fantasy and fun. They don’t take anything as seriously as adults because they have never had to yet in life. If you, as a parent, mistakenly expect them to respond like a grown adult and then get mad, then who’s acting like a child?
It’s not what you say, it’s how and when you “choose” to say it.