How To Stop Nagging Your Children

 

The following post is from Kat of Inspired To Action:

source: Dawn Huczek

Who Loves Nagging…?

Is there anything more enjoyable than reminding your child 5,236,297 times to brush their teeth before school?

What about the bliss of getting into the car only to discover that one child forgot their SHOES?

But, really, the most fun of all is trying to get out the door on time. “HURRY! HURRY! HURRY!”

…Yeah – No One!

Root canals. IRS Audits. Nagging.

No one likes to repeat themselves over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. You get the picture.

Here are a few tips we use around our house to keep the nagging to a minimum.

1. Create a Routine Chart

We have a marker board up in our kitchen and on it we list the morning, afternoon and evening tasks that the children need to accomplish. Nothing is too simple for the chart. Here is an example:

Morning
Get dressed from head to toe (hair brushed, socks, shoes etc)
Eat breakfast
Brush teeth
Get bag, lunchbox, snack, drink

Afternoon
Unpack school papers
Do homework
Make lunch

Evening
Tidy room
Set out school clothes
Brush teeth
Put on pjs

2. Invest in a Timer

We use a timer in the morning. I set the clock to go off at the time we leave and it’s up to them to be in the car before the alarm sounds.

We currently use a regular timer for my school children, but when I need my youngest to do something in a certain amount of time, I use a visual timer. We use the iphone app version, but there is also a physical timer available.

I’ve found that this can really eliminate my need to remind them or hurry them. If they do run late, I have allowed them to be tardy for school to help them learn the importance of time management. One tardy on the report card has been well worth the lesson learned.

A timer can also be useful when my children want to know how long it will be until a certain event (dinner, tv show, playdate etc) We set the timer and they no longer ask every 3 seconds “how much longer…”

3. Reward

I know rewards are somewhat controversial, but using them judiciously works for us.

When the school year started I hit the dollar store and bought some puzzles, crafts and books. Each week that we were able to leave on time, the kids got to pick one prize. After a month, we were in a morning routine and we arrived at school with very little nagging on my part.

These three tips have really helped our home to run more smoothly without me having to nag them nonstop.

What do you do to curb the nagging in your home?

Kat blogs at Inspired To Action, a site dedicated to helping moms develop the habits and skills they need to effectively manage their homes and raise children who are prepared to change the world. Kat loves music, running, technology, Jesus and Tex-Mex food. Not necessarily in that order.

Tagged as: kat