Busy parents, who spend too little time with their child, often compensate by buying whatever the child ask for. In the long run, the child are either frequently neglected or overly indulged by their parents, thus then become less likely to be pleased.
If parents don’t notice in time, when the child is denied for a request or is unsatisfied with her demands, they will appear irritable and act out their anger, or they will appear depressed and stop talking all together. So, how do parents teach 2 to 3 years old to behave themselves on handling unfulfilled desires? By reviewing the following case studies, we shall gain insights on how to help children manage their emotions.
Case Study 1
Every time little Bob gets upset, he would scream and thrash things around him. His parents decided to shunt him when he is letting out his anger. Things takes a turn for the worse that little Bob becomes upset more easily.
When a child is upset, parents must first understand the reasons. For example, little Bob is upset because he was denied ice cream. Listening to little Bob’s complaint and explaining to him why he can’t have ice cream, his parents schedule a future date to take little Bob for ice cream.
Takeaways
Communicate the points of view from both sides; explain the principle behind the decision; keep the promises made. Empathy from the parents can calm a child’s mood and reminds the child to express his/her feeling without malice.
Case Study 2
Susan is 3 years old. She still needs people to spoon feed her food. Her mother tells her kindergarten teacher, after a work day, she would prepare dinner, feed her children quickly so the adults can catch a break. When Susan was 2 years old, she would reach for the spoon or grab the food herself, but it always ends up a huge mess.
As children go through each stage of development, parents may wish to observe signs of initiative to start doing things themselves. Parents would need to patiently guide their children doing a specific task, helping them analyze the individual steps in accomplishing the task. After they can take care of themselves, it will raise the self-esteem in children, as well as, cultivate mood and good characters.
Takeaways
During childhood development, children don’t always pick up new skills at first try. At start of learning a new skill, failures are inevitable. If parents consistently take over because it consumes too much of their time, children would not be able to experience of success in mastering new skills. And, if they can’t master the fundamentals, how could they face new challenges in the future?
Daily Tasks Are Great Practices for Patience
For example, making children follow a set schedule for television; having them involved in making snacks; allowing them to pay for groceries; paying attention to rules in public; Or, taking on a hobby, such as drawing, crafts, solving puzzles, reading, building LEGO. When children come across a hurdle, parents should be by their side, patiently assist them overcome their problems, and encourage them to keep trying. Eventually, their threshold for things that could upset them will increase.
