Stop the Broken Record in your House with 3 Easy Steps

Many of the Moms I talk to tell me that they feel like a broken record when they tell their kids to do something or not to do something, and by the time their kids are actually listening, they are at the point of complete aggravation and yelling. Well of course you are! Anyone would be! So my goal in this blog is to give you some secrets to help stop that broken record in your house and make it a little easier for you.

1. Get on their level and make eye contact when you are telling them something important. You would be amazed at the power of stopping your child in their tracks and bending down telling them to look at your eyes and then giving direction. Imagine being kind of in your own world and blissfully having a great time and just basically hearing noise going on in the background. More than likely you are not hearing exactly what is being said. The same goes for your child. Many times they are just caught up in their world (which is an amazing, annoying gift children have) and simply don't hear your exact instructions, so you end up saying the same thing 5 times and they didn't hear you once. So stopping them and getting on their level and looking at them in the eye is so powerful!

2. Be clear and direct. When it comes to giving directions to children, many times less is more. The more words you use, many times the more confused your child will be. So going on a tangent about how much this aggravates you will do absolutely nothing but confuse them even more. Instead be clear and direct. Tell them exactly what they are doing wrong and what you would like them to do instead. For instance, if you need them to stop running at the pool. Stop them, get on their level, have them look you in the eye and say, "You may not run, you have to walk at the pool." This way they know exactly what your expectation is, what you want and what you don't want.

3. Follow through with whatever you said. Follow through is key when it comes to not feeling like a broken record. If you don't follow through on your word, your children will NEVER take a word you say seriously. And can I just say, this is a HUGE key to parenting. Your kids have to know that you are true to your word and you will follow through on what you say. They have to trust you and your word, whether that's a consequence for disobedience, or whether it's that you said you would play a game with them when you got home. They have to know that you mean what you say because it creates stability and security in your home. So if you say "you may not run at the pool you have to walk and if you run again we are leaving", then you better plan on following through with that and leaving if and when they run again.

Implementing these 3 things in your home consistently and over time will stop the broken record in your home. For more help you can contact me through email, text or call! I'd love to talk to you! Follow me on Facebook, subscribe to my blog and share please!