Being there for your kids - Motivating Your Child To Take Care of Business

Episode Date: December 2, 2018

A round tuit is a play on words that can help your child motivate the "do I hafta's?" to "get it done." Sometimes our kids get stuck in bad behavior. Use your best active listening to help bring his emotional fever down. Then ask permission to offer some solutions. Work together on finding rewards and consequences to help him make the necessary changes. The round tuit is a fun way to help him stay on task and make the necessary changes.

Hi, I'm Dr. John Robinson, and this is Teachable Moments. Have a question for you. Do you have a round to it? Early in our marriage, my wife received a unique stocking stuffer, Christmas gift. It was a circular pot holder. On it was this message. This is a round to it, T-U-I-T. Did you ever think about something you had to do but failed to get around to it? Well, now you have one, so stop making excuses and do it. Often parents think about doing things differently with their children,

but seemed to be stuck on the same old behavior patterns. If what you are doing isn't working, then change it. The standard definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Now in middle school, 12-year-old Anthony continued to get up late, missed breakfast, and run out the door, often missing his school bus. He ran up the tardies at school and was getting extra assignments because of them. He wanted to change his morning habits, but he didn't seem to ever get around to it.

With yet another tardy slip in hand, he slumped into the chair at the kitchen table. His mom sat down next to him and heard his tale of woe. She used her best act of listening without judging and without her own solutions. Seeing that he was more settled, she added, I have some thoughts about your frustrations. Do you want to hear them? Mom went to the family events calendar on the cork board and retrieved the family round-to-it pot-holder. Here, she gave the potholder to her son.

I think you need to hold on to this for a while. both laughed as the Round Two at Potholder had been passed from one family member to another over many years. Mom and Anthony then talked over a plan that involved getting his stuff and setting his clothes out the night before, an earlier bedtime, two alarm clock set distance from his bed, posted prompts around his room and the kitchen, and a cash incentive for daily and weekly compliance to the new morning routine and reaching his goal of being on time for school each day. The Round Toot Pott holder stayed in his room as a reminder until his new routine was set in stone.

Do you need to get around to it? This cute little reminder will help you move from planning helpful changes to actually doing them. I'm Dr. John Robinson, licensed clinical psychologist and Christian author, and this has been Teachable Moments. Teachable Moments, building blocks of Christian parenting, is available online at AmazonBooks.com and in local and national bookstores. on Dr. Robinson at TMC-P-I-N-C.com.