Parenting Tips: Dealing with Dawdling Children

"Hurry up! You're gonna be late for school again. If only you would eat as fast as when you're told you can play PSP." Why is it that it is difficult for children to hurry up? Why is it that they don't seem to care about the passing of time? Why do they dawdle? Do you have to deal with this with your school children?

According to the book Discipline Without Shouting or Spanking, which I'm reading, this is because "time has no meaning to a child under 6 years old (maybe older?), hurrying has no great advantages." To help prevent dawdling, some of the suggestions are:

• Try to allow lead time. Give more time to prepare. This may mean waking up earlier to prepare for school.

• Establish and maintain a schedule. Set a time limit and regular pattern for eating, playing, bathing and sleeping to develop consistency in the child's activities.

• Turn instructions into fun, not frustrating orders by running races with her instead of urging her to just hurry up.

• Don't nag. Nagging usually just makes him to dawdle more and give her attention for not moving.

• Be a role model. Being an on-time person helps your child understand the importance of meeting time goals. Don't dawdle yourself.

Well, these are good tips. I do need to work on these myself. Let's give it a try.