I, myself, have been in that same position (last week) on the latest trip to Home Depot with my husband!

Lately I have been contacted by parents about their child’s meltdowns. Meltdowns are inevitable but never be planned…Except when you do not want your child to have one i.e. grocery store, doctors office, ANYWHERE public…!

Public meltdowns performed by your children make you feel like you are the worst. You are not! You and your child are NORMAL! I do not think anyone anywhere can prevent meltdowns. However, you CAN decrease the amount of meltdowns AND decrease the duration of the meltdown.

Depending on how much time you want to invest, you can decrease your child’s tantrums to 5 minutes.

Here are some tips:

Give your child YOUR expectations. All children want to please so if you give them your expectations then they will know how to achieve gratification for behaving. Ex: “…when we get into the store, keep your hands in your pockets, stay next to me, use a calm slow body and whisper.”
Give them a Reason to behave. Even adults need motivation to do things they don’t want to do. Thus the paycheck, right? Children want to please you, yes, but adding an incentive to do so sweetens the deal. But make sure the reward fits the behavior being rewarded. Ex: "…you did a great job keeping your hands in your pockets and using a calm body in that fancy store. Would you like to go to the park later?” Going to the park is a great reward because it allows for large body movements and has many tactile outlets.
Give your child CLEAR, CONCISE consequences. As I mentioned earlier, make the reward match the behavior. Similarly, match the consequence to the crime (behavior). Ex: “…because you ran off and hid in the store today which worried me, you will hold my hand (ride in the shopping cart, put in their stroller etc.) while we’re in the next store.” This may not seem like a huge consequence but to a child, it is. They just lost their independence! And depending on the age of your child this could be devastating! Think of a 6 or 7 year old boy! The last thing they want to do is hold mommy’s hand! And for any 3 year old experimenting with independence, which most are, this is an earth shattering consequence. “BIG Girls don’t ride in strollers!”
But for any of these tips to work, CONSISTANCY and FOLLOW THROUGH are key!
Contact ASK MISS SARAH, LLC how you can learn custom geared strategies for your child’s behavior!

AND NOW for some January Home-School Highlights

SNOW SPRAY PAINT!

FAIL 1. Miss Sarah didn’t take into account how heavy a full sized spray bottle would be
FAIL 2. Old spray bottles usually leak
FAIL 3. Old spray bottles have faulty triggers that stick.
Redeemed my greatness when I spent money on new colored, child-sized spray bottles and brought the snow inside!

Playing Post Office

Dear Mommy...

This is first time I saw Clara write her name! She wrote it on piece of paper stuffed it into an envelope smacked a stamp on it and brought it to the Post Office!