Kids CAN Listen!
Children have short attention span and eventually, parents fall short on patience to try and get their child’s attention. While most parents turn towards raised voices to make their child listen to them, eventually the child learns to tune it out. Also, it isn’t a healthy practice to inculcate an environment of screaming and shouting around the child. Worry not, if you don’t know how to get your child to listen, these tips will help you –
- Surprise Them – You can surprise your child in a number of ways, like clapping your hands or flicking the light switch on and off. Their attention would shift from whatever they are focusing on to you. Once you have the focus on you, you can start your interaction.
- Whisper To Them – When shouting has been tuned-off by your child, try to whisper to them. It’s the exact opposite of shouting because of which it has an element of novelty that will draw their attention. Also, it would save your voice.
- Fool Around – This could mean that you can flap your arms like wings and make weird noises or you can act like a clown by jumping or yodeling. Make your child notice your fun side and this would make them laugh, getting you their attention.
- Physical Contact – This is the easiest way to get your child’s attention. Just give them a hug, touch their cheek or pat their back. A simple hand on the shoulder would be fine as well.
- Gesture With Your Hands – Use crude sign language to get their attention. It could be something as simple as tapping or pointing towards your ears to ask them to listen. It is a known fact that children respond better to visual interactions than audio ones.
- Distract Them – Children have the habit of not sticking to a topic or thought for longer duration of time. So, it is easy to distract them from what they are doing by introducing something novel. This will slow them down a little and you could get your point across.
- Intrude – If you have been trying to converse with your child but they are fixated on the television or some moving toy, the best way is to step right in front of that object. When you do so, you block their view and make them listen to what you are trying to say.
- Offer Incentives – Rewarding a child for listening can be a good exercise to start off. It need not involve anything big. Small gestures like a pat on the back, kissing or a simple hug can work wonders. When they listen and obey, tell them that you love them. You could also offer them a sweet or their favorite cookie as a reward. Or, some good time playing their PC games on their favorite sites can also work like a charm. My little one is especially hooked on to the cooking games website. But I make sure that I do not allow this leeway to her more than twice a month, half an hour each time.
- Ask – This is the simplest and the most underestimated of tips. Sometimes if you ask your child, they obey. This is direct and obvious and many children respond to this positively.
Many people yell at their children but this could ruin the environment of your house. However, be stern when the situation demands it. Raising your voice when necessary is a must to inculcate discipline.
