DO YOU SOUND LIKE A BROKEN RECORD? Practicing consistency in your child discipline

My husband and I have been exhausted in our parenting; this being in terms of our children and their discipline lately. 

It seems as though no matter what we do we have to TELL THEM A MILLION TIMES what we've been telling them since they were small . But here's thing,  it hasn't always been like that, this is a recent development in our home. 

So why all the sudden over the 6 months or so has it seemed like our children have started regressing in their ability to do as they are told? In their willingness to be obedient? 

As we began to ponder and asses the situation we realized that with out even being aware of it we had become distracted or maybe even tired of a constant hands on parenting.

As a result, we became more lenient and 'gave some slack'.  Is that a bad thing ?

No , not really  , until the child begins to take advantage of it. You've heard the term, "Give them an inch and they take a mile". It was becoming a nasty epidemic in our home.

In our home obedience is defined as "doing what you are told the FIRST TIME with a HAPPY HEART and NOT WHINING.  The children have been taught this character trait as part of their pre-K curricula we follow; It is ingrained in them. 

Somewhere down the line WE , as parents , began compromising what we claimed to be our conviction on obedience. We began telling them 2 and 3 times. When we were exhausted you could even find us maybe even bribing them to obedience.

Here is the thing, by the time we have repeated ourselves again and again we are short fused . Why ? Because, " haven't we told them a million times ?" Why yes, you have!

And as parents that is YOUR FAULT,  not theirs .You are not a broken record unless you allow yourself to become one.

So mama , if you are tired of sounding like that broke record . Practice consistency in your parenting and in the discipline of your children  as a form of self care . What ever method of discipline you use , USE IT CONSISTENTLY!

  Tonight, sit your children down and communicate what your expectations are CLEARLY.  Then, have them REPEAT IT BACK to you .

For instance "From now on, I am only going to ask you to do something one time . If you do not comply the first time you will receive XYZ as discipline."

Children need to know what is expected of them. However, they also need to know the consequence in advance AND lastly they need to be able to repeat it back to you. If you have them repeat it back to you they can't use the whole "I DIDN'T HEAR YOU" excuse. 

Parenting can be tiring and wearisome at times but when we allow consistency to fall by the wayside we are not relieving the burden of the responsibility but rather making it a heavier burden to bare .

REMEMBER,  DELAYED OBEDIENCE IS STILL DISOBEDIENCE! Do your self a favor and practice consistency,  as a result you will raise self disciplined children that grow into self disciplined and motivated adults later in life. 

You can do this friend !

Here are the steps to help you design a plan : 1-) Write out the expectations ( for yourself to see ) 2-) Choose the consequence you will implement when your child disobeys 3-) Call a family team meeting 4-) Communicate the expectation and the consequence for disobedience to your children 5-) Have each child repeat it back to you 6-) Move forward with CONSISTENT implementation of the plan 7-) Repeat as needed.... Follow through with CONSISTENCY

** Note : If you are married you may want to be sure you communicate these changes with your spouse so the children see that you are both on one accord. **