As a working mother with three boys at home, it is tough to keep up with it all. After my first two boys cleared the toddler years, I thought my third boy would be a breeze. This has not been the case. Some days I feel like I am starting all over with him. None of my old tricks and tips worked on him, so I went back to the drawing board.
Rule #1: You can't be in the room when I'm working unless you work, too This gets your child to help, or stop bugging you, while you do chores or other work. It might seem odd, but I don't mind doing laundry, cleaning floors, or really any kind of housework. But I do mind my kids, oblivious to the fact that my arms are full of their underwear, asking me to find their missing doll shoe or do a puzzle with them.
Rule #2: No late nights. I don't work past 8 p.m. The goal is regular bedtimes and time off for you. You can't just announce a rule to your husband and kids that says, "Bedtime has to go really smoothly so I can get a break at the end of the day." It won't happen. But if you flip the problem and make a rule about you instead of telling everyone what they have to do, it all falls into place. I would gladly read books, play games, listen to stories of everyone's day, and even give baths, but all before 8 p.m. Then I held firm. Suddenly, my 4-year-old (and my husband) developed a new consciousness of time. My daughter actually rushed to get ready for bed just after dinner so that we could have lots of books and time together before I was "off."
Rule #3: You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit. The goal here is no more haggling over which pretzel has more salt or who gets their milk in the prized red cup and who in the cursed green. Not only does it have a great rhythm to it, but it points out the great rule that life isn't fair all the time. When I first heard this, I was skeptical. It seemed too simple. But to my utter surprise, not only did it do the trick but kids seemed to rally around it almost with relief. They must have seen that if it applied to them today it might apply to someone else tomorrow.
Good luck with your toddler, start your plan of attack today!
For some great tools to help with kids, check out the Overcoming Childhood Anxiety Review or to clean up after your kids, check out the Shark Navigator Lift Away Review
