Have you ever considered responding with play instead of responding with correction?
It’s not always the right choice, but sometimes when things are getting unmanageable, behaviors are unacceptable, or you feel totally stuck in your situation you can use play to turn it around.
Here’s how it might look…
- Your child says something like, “I hate you,” to his sibling.
- Parent jumps in and picks the child up, and kindly says.
- “Let me see your sweet face. Look at that kind face, it can’t say those kinds of things. Let me kiss it 100 times so it remembers how sweet and kind it is.”
- Put that child down and love and play with the other children so they all get equal loving connection time with you.
As long as you’re playing and having fun with the kids when everything is going great, using play when there’s off-track behavior is a great option.
Responding with play instead of punishment doesn’t mean we are telling them it’s okay to say “I hate you” to their sibling.
We’re telling them is that we love them and will stay connected to them regardless of what they are doing. We set a limit, help them reset, and then they’re on their way.
We’re showing them it’s okay to mess up, and that we’ll be for them no matter what.
This is what we learn with Connect Method Parenting. It’s magical but counterintuitive for most of us.
Tribe is where I help moms implement Connect Method Parenting.
Reply to this email if you want to get on the waitlist to get info next time I open up Tribe.
xoxo,
Andee
