My brother, who have no kids, have a kind of doing things that makes the kids like him (he was a handball coach at the time). When I asked him what it was many years ago, he told me : « I treat them as adults, talk to them on an equal base »
So when my children was born, I decided to do the same for them. Talking like an adult (with sometimes words they had no chance to understand), explain the why and how of stuff we ask them to do.
Never raised the hand on them. Sometimes it’s a little hard to deal, but most of the time everything goes well.
We’ll see when they will be teenagers, but for now, we all live in harmony, and we are often complimented by other parents for their behavior.
Maybe we got lucky (we will never know) or may be this approach was good.
But for us, it’s the way to do.
So when my children was born, I decided to do the same for them. Talking like an adult (with sometimes words they had no chance to understand), explain the why and how of stuff we ask them to do.
Never raised the hand on them. Sometimes it’s a little hard to deal, but most of the time everything goes well.
We’ll see when they will be teenagers, but for now, we all live in harmony, and we are often complimented by other parents for their behavior.
Maybe we got lucky (we will never know) or may be this approach was good.
But for us, it’s the way to do.