Top Tip Tuesday

Do as I say AND as I do…

Children are like sponges.

They absorb a lot of what they see or hear.

How often does your child say something to you from ages ago and you’re wondering, ‘how did you even remember that?!’.

The same thing happens with their learned behaviours.

All of a sudden they’ll start automatically doing something you’d been wanting them to do for ages or maybe they start acting in a way that seems out of character.

One of my little girls doesn’t drink nearly enough water, no matter now much we tell her to.

Instead of just telling her I started ensuring that she saw me drinking water whenever possible.

We’ll be doing some colouring and I’ll have my water bottle next to me.

I’ll have a big glass of it next to me at dinner time.

Then, the other day, she actually asked me for a drink of water instead of me boarder-line begging her to drink!

We’ve still got work to do but it was a big step in the right direction.

In a football context you can sometimes see this on match days.

You might see that one over-aggressive child who is always moaning, crying if they don’t get a decision and generally just very angry all the time.

Then you look at the parent and see them ranting and raving on the sideline like they’re watching England in a World Cup final.Coincidence?

Of course there are exceptions to the rule but you can only control what you can control and that’s how you behave in front of your children.

You can try it with anything.

Want them to read more?

Turn off the TV and let them see you reading.

Want them to exercise more?

Let them see you going for run.

So, if you’re trying to promote certain behaviours in your child, try to let them see you doing it instead of just telling them.