Guidelines for Living with Children

Just in case you have not had enough Guidelines for Living, the North Carolina Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics Online website offers the following 10 Guidelines for Living with Children. If you find them interesting or want to learn more, I encourage to visit their site for a full description.

1. "Catch 'em being good." -- The single most important rule in living with a child is to find things to praise
2. "Let them help you." -- The second most important rule is to let your children help you
3. Monitor your children. -- When your children are playing quietly, catch them being good! Don't ignore them.
4. Home routines and responsibilities should (within reason) be orderly and predictable.
5. Discipline and enforcement of discipline should be as matter of fact as possible. -- Follow through with logical consequences.
6. Lectures belong in lecture halls; not in homes. -- Do not lecture your children, not even under the guise of reasoning with them.
7. Show sympathy when you discipline. -- Be empathetic but don't give in.
8. Prompting and modeling, or imitating. -- Children learn by what they see, and hear you and others do.
9. Be a mother, not a martyr. -- Find a good babysitter or preschool, and take a breather.
10. Parents are teachers. -- Whether you program it or not, whether you intend it or not, you teach your children through your interactions with them. What you do is more important than what you say.

Coaching Inquiries: Who are the children in your life? What do they learn from how you live your life? When was the last time you went looking for something to celebrate and appreciate? How have you called that to their attention? What would assist you to become a better role model?

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