A Moment of Training- Shh... Don't touch.... Be Still!

Teaching some basic manners to our children can mean the difference between a peaceful day out in town or a stressful disaster you fear. Over the years, I have had countless people come to me and ask, "How can I get my toddler to sit quietly through church service?" or "How I can take seven children under the age of ten into a store without stress!" Don't expect your children to sit quiet through Church or keep their hands to themselves while walking through the store. Take the time to teach your children these simple manners in your own home where you can train them without the audience of the store employees or the choir!

 

 

 

• Here are a few training moments that we do in our home:
• We practice not wiggling or talking through Church service by having the same rules applied to our daily story time.  
• We practice not touching the "pretty's" in the store by teaching them not to touch certain items in the home.
• We teach the children to eat what is given to them and receive it with thanks by teaching them to have this same gracious behavior at meal time in our home.  
• We teach the children not to cry for items they want at the store by taking them shopping in advance, for the sole purpose of training.
• We teach them all the "traps" that have been set out for them. I show the children how the store puts the children cereal down low, at a child’s eye level so they will ask their mommy for it and cry to get their way. How toys are put next to baby diapers so that siblings will cry for a toy when the mommy is trying to buy diapers. How the candy is set next to the counter so the child will cry for candy and the mommy will buy it. I talk to the children about financial responsibility and how we don't buy impulsively.
• We have a family rule that you can't ask for anything once we enter the store. If a child wants to spend their money on something they have to ask before we enter. I never change the rules. They remain the same and the children have learned how to behave very graciously in public.

  

This has been a simple training moment in our home that has been used creatively and successfully. I hope you are able to take some ideas and apply them to the training moments the Lord is creating in your own home. There are many other 'little' tips but I will save those for another post!

 

 

 

Have a wonderful day friends,

 

Mrs. Joseph Wood