No one on this Earth wants to say they want to be bad parents to their children. While parenting can be very challenging for many, all of them want to be good parents to their children.
Raising a child requires patience and understanding, and you will need positive discipline techniques to help teach your child to be a good individual.
There are no perfect parents, but there are still many things you can do to enforce discipline through positive discipline techniques. Check out how to be a better parent with these positive discipline techniques.
Set Proper Limits For Your Child
As your child grows, they begin to understand who they are and what they can do. As they continue to develop their skills, they often want to be independent.
They begin to develop capabilities such as dressing themselves, eating with a spoon and fork by themselves, and many others.
When they are capable of these things, make sure that you allow them to feel independent so they can develop proper self-esteem.
While they continue to explore, set proper limits for your child and emphasize their safety as you monitor where they explore.
Disciplining Your Child Should Not Immediately Result in Punishment
As you enforce limits, children will need to realize that boundaries are there to protect themselves.
Many children do not understand this yet; hence, they need proper and positive discipline so they can learn these boundaries.
Teach your kids to learn how to behave in the world and help them understand so they can become competent and empathic individuals.
As a parent, one mistake from a child should not immediately result in punishment but instead educate them on what happened, what the child did, and how to do it better.
Spend Time Playing With Your Kids
Parents must always remember that kids will need playtime. Playtime increases their imagination and creativity.
Take this time to bond with your child while letting them choose the activity that they like. Go with the flow and allow your child to be one.
You can schedule a few hours a day to play with your child without any interruptions. This helps make memories together that the child will truly cherish and allow you to connect with your child better.
Additionally, you're able to develop a good relationship with your child faster, especially when you discipline them this way.
Highlight the Positives
Whenever their child does something bad or displays bad behavior, most parents often focus on the bad behavior and put heavy emphasis on it.
The child would then think that this is a good way for them to get your attention, hence they would do it over again.
Instead of perpetuating this kind of behavior, highlight the positives and mention what the bad behavior was to correct it.
Children often thrive when they are being praised, so make sure that they feel loved when they do something good.
Divert Their Energy To Positive Behavior
We all know how hard it can be when your child throws tantrums inside a grocery store. Getting them to behave is difficult, but it's quite simple.
All you need to do is to distract their energy into a positive behavior or creative output.
As a parent, you already know what they love to do during their time or when they play.
When they display bad behavior or throw tantrums, distract them with a more positive activity, such as letting them draw on their favorite colorbook, introducing a game, changing the topic, or simply leading them into another room for a different activity.
Make Good Use of Calm Consequences
Many parents often want to deal with bad behavior immediately, but this should not always be the case.
You will need to extend your patience as it is a learning experience for your child to accept responsibility for their actions.
Give your child the chance to choose the right thing by telling them about their options. For example, if the child continues to write on the floor, tell them to stop, or you will take away their crayons.
Let this be an opportunity for learning for them as well. Explain the consequences, and if they do follow you, provide them with praise, thus creating a positive loop for them.
Understand Why Your Child Behaves That Way
As a parent, it is your responsibility to understand why your child behaves that way.
A child does not have the complete capabilities to express what they want, so it can be defined as bad behavior.
A child who simply wants attention might lash out at their sibling when you give them the attention they want. Try to understand your child's perspective on this matter so you will know how to correct it.
Sometimes, the problem might not be your child after all, but actually, your failure to understand and meet their needs.
Don't Reward Your Child With Prizes
It can be very tempting as a parent to reward your child when they do something good or behave well.
This can be misconstrued by many children that for them to get rewarded, they have to do something good first. The best reward that you can do with your child is to spend time with them.
Quality time is one of the best ways to discipline and better understand your child. Spend at least 15 minutes connecting with your child, especially if they did something good.
Let them express their joy, ask them how they were able to achieve such good grades, and praise them for it. The time you spend with your child alone is priceless.
Conclusion
When it comes to discipline, parents immediately resort to punishment, which can cause a rift in the relationship. However, there are a lot of positive discipline techniques that you can incorporate that do not harm the child's understanding of the world around them. Apply the techniques mentioned above so you can be a better parent overall.
