It’s hard to teach our kids that we mean business when we say no to their requests. I am finding it increasingly difficult to teach her that when I tell her no, that no actually means no. I find myself saying it over and over again until she finally understands.
For example, right before bed she something she wants to watch on TV. Now, I must admit that sometimes I do let her watch a little TV but I don’t like to do this often because I don’t want her to get used to the fact that she can always watch TV before she goes to bed. This is definitely not a habit I want her to develop.
However, now I am stuck with a dilemma. If sometimes I let her watch TV and sometimes I don’t, I see how she can get confused. It’s my job to help her understand why I say no as this will aid in relieving some of the confusion for her.
I recently started only letting her watch television before bed on Friday. I let her pick a movie and then I tell her she can watch it until it’s over and then lights out. On the other days of the week, I tell her that it’s not Friday yet and you have to listen to Mommy the whole week if you want to pick and watch a movie on Friday. She seems to understand this and she pleasantly obeys me. We are still working on it but like everything else she will learn and grow as we go along.