Ever said to a friend, “I KNEW this was going to happen” as your kiddo
melts down at an evening open house, or “Seriously? Why do you always act
like this in the grocery store?”. We all get those gut feelings that maybe
we should just stay in tonight, or get the feeling in the parking lot, that
it’s going to be a dreadful run into target to grab new socks and undies
for the kids.

Often, we dismiss this as just annoying aspects of parenting, when
actually, these situations can reveal patterns and give us an opportunity
to “proactively parent”. What is “proactive parenting”? It’s simply
addressing a situation BEFORE it happens. It involves trusting our gut and
avoiding a situation, or making agreements with kids ahead of time when
spirits are high and thoughts are logical, then revisiting these agreements
when faced with a challenge.

It can look like “We need to grab milk and bread at Trader Joes, but we
need to make an agreement about the checkout aisle. I’m ok finding the
Lemur and asking for a lollipop, but not begging for gummy candies at the
exit aisle, OK? So what is our agreement?” or “We can go outside to scooter
as long as we KEEP our shoes on. Should we take our shoes off, we’ll need
to come inside, OK? So what is our agreement?”

Having these short conversations makes a lot of difference in gaining kids
cooperation with small and large tasks in everyday life. Children love to
feel valuable and part of the decision making process. And parents LOVE to
have kids cooperate more!!

Join me for my next Redirecting Children’s Behavior Class starting TOMORROW
Oct. 6th (Aspirations School of Learning) or Jan. 15th (Playwerx). Hope to
see you there!

Wendy Snyder
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fresh Start Parenting
619-379-9379
FreshStartParentingRCB.com
[email protected]

*”Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!! ~Dr.
Seuss”*