WOT?
I have trouble getting my young kids to listen. How can I get them to do what I want?
SUMMARY
Kids love it when they think they’re smarter than you. Get their attention by acting incompetent!
WHY?
To a kid, everybody is always telling them what to do and how to do it. Parents and teachers are constantly correcting them. To get their attention, change it up and make them feel like they know more than you do. This tip works well with toddlers and is still working with my 2nd grade son. It’s shocking that it works, but it really does.
For example, my kids sometimes don’t want to put on their shoes and socks. So I’ll sit them down, grab a shoe and call it a sock. “Ok, let’s put on your sock.” An immediate smile comes across their face and they say, “No, that’s a shoe!” Then say “Oh, you’re right!” as you then grab their other shoe and call that one a sock. Finally grab their sock and say, “Ok, let’s get this on your foot.” but then put it on their hand. They’ll correct you and think that this is the funniest thing they’ve ever seen. Finally, you look at them and say, “This sock won’t fit your foot because your foot is way too big!” Again, they’ll laugh, stick out their foot to prove you wrong and you slip on their sock. “See!” they’ll say and you say, “ooohh, wow, I didn’t think that would fit at all. I’m sure the other one won’t fit.”
Soon enough, they’ve got both socks on. Then proceed to grab the right shoe for their left foot, or attempt to put the shoe on their hand or put the shoe on backwards (toes into the heal and wonder why it doesn’t fit). Eventually you’ll get around to getting everything on and for them, they loved teaching you something and had a blast getting dressed.
I do this sort of thing frequently with all sorts of things and the options are endless. Call pants a shirt, a hair brush a toothbrush, fill a bath with water the perfect temperature and tell them that it’s freezing (touch it and pretend it is) and say that there is no way that they can go into water so cold. Sure enough, they’ll touch it, laugh and watch the shock on your face as they think you believe that they’ve just entered an icy tub.
In the end, everybody is smiling, happy and you got them to do exactly what you wanted them to do in a fun way.