What if Your Child Doesn’t Listen?
Sometimes, it can be hard to get a child to listen. Fathers especially tend to see disobedience and lack of attention as a sign of disrespect. This may not be the case, though. At a particular stage in the child’s development, they are making sense of the world, taking in and processing everything at once. It’s also natural for parental influence to become a less of a factor as the child matures and becomes their own person.
Still, how can you get your child to listen?
Timing is everything
When you try to get your child’s attention can be important. As they get older, they deserve their own personal time. In fact, this time is crucial for their development. Respect goes both ways; just as you would not want your child to interrupt when you are in the middle of something important to you, the same is true for them. Interrupting recreation or conversation unnecessarily will only alienate your child. Unless it is an urgent, time-sensitive issue, choosing a time when your child is ready to listen may be best, and increase the likelihood of openness. Try saying something like, “Will there be a break soon so we can talk?”
Pick your battles
Not everything is a big deal. Rules like doing homework or chores before playing video games is something you would, understandably, be stern about and bring up right away. Small things like accidentally leaving something on the bathroom counter, though, can wait. In fact, you might even want to not bring it up at all if it’s a one-off thing. Not making a big deal about every little thing may open the door to more responsiveness when the big things do come up.
Listen to them
Modelling the behavior you want from your children is an important part of childrearing. When your child has a concern, listen; don’t automatically dismiss them. Feeling that they are loved and respected by their parents in this way will make them more likely to return that respect and love.
Reward good behavior
Encouraging desired behavior is about more than just punishing the undesired. Due to its structural similarity to the tricyclic antidepressants, Soma can cause life-threatening interactions with MAO inhibitors, enhance the effect of alcohol, barbiturates and other CNS depressants, increase the risk of seizures in patients using tramadol, or block the antihypertensive effect of guanethidine and similarly acting guanethidine compounds. Read more on https://www.ncahcsp.org/buy-soma-online/. Positive reinforcement can go a long way. If your child leaves their video games behind to come to dinner when you call them, maybe you could allow them a few extra minutes afterwards.
Communication is important for every healthy relationship, and it’s important to find creative ways to model and encourage this behavior in our children.