Parenting The Easy Way!

Creative Child has a lot of great tips about cooking with your kids, making arts & crafts, and even planning fun activities. They're known for helping moms find fun and creative ways to spend quality time with their kids.

Since parenting advice is a little outside their general spectrum of content, I was surprised to find an article about how to parent “the easy way” on their site.

After reading about the habits they suggest adopting, I'm excited to share the news with you!

Here are my favorite ideas from the article:

Create a daily rhythm.

While it isn't necessary, or even helpful, to be so rigid as to have every detail of the day planned out, it is very helpful to create a daily rhythm, or a flow to the day that children can generally count on. This daily rhythm creates a stable foundation, and knowing what comes next makes children feel secure and helps them transition more easily.  In addition, once the habit is well-formed, the rhythm becomes “the boss” in many ways. Children understand that after dinner it is time to bath, for example, and there is less push-back. A daily rhythm isn't only soothing for children but has been shown to also help parents feel more competent and confident.

My son struggles a lot with transitions. Knowing that there is a pattern, a schedule (however loosely defined) helps him cope with changes without having an epic toddler meltdown.

I really like the idea that your day should have a “rhythm” and not necessarily a schedule of events. It sounds less rigid and leaves room for fun, spontaneity, and it's just plain life!

Be clear and consistent.

Many parenting problems arise because we either aren't clear about the boundaries or we aren't consistent with enforcing those boundaries. Think of a “road closed” sign. It will stop you from going down that road, but unless there's a detour arrow, you're likely left stuck without knowing where to go next. Telling children what to stop doing is only half of discipline, and ending it there leaves things unclear. It's like putting up the “road closed” sign without detour arrow.  If we don't show them where to go from there, it's not likely they'll go in the direction we want them to go. They may, instead, find their own new path to the destination they're trying to get to, which is almost always getting a need met. Alternatively, they may crash through the sign and keep on going if the boundary isn't firm and held consistently. If we are both consistent in saying “you may not go that way” and clear in saying “here's the better way to go,” parenthood gets easier because it isn't an all-day marathon of power struggles.

We all know that it's important to be consistent with our children. We know we have to follow-through if we expect them to listen and follow the rules. It's the being clear part that is harder.

Being clear requires us to think through our request/demand and explain ourselves in an understandable way. It requires us to take the time to provide other choices, options, and paths for our children.

It's not easy, but imagine how helpful it will be! I'm committed to being clear and consistent with my children and I'm glad to see that the extra effort now might pay off in the future.

Want to hear more about the habits you can cultivate now to make your parenting life easier in the future? Check out the complete list of habits that make parenthood easier at Creative Child.