One of the stumbling blocks I encountered with my first child was how to deal with toys not being picked up and put away. I knew I didn’t want to nag or yell, but being a new parent I didn’t know how to recruit my daughter’s cooperation in a consistent and effective way. I was fortunate that she had several wonderful preschool teachers who offered me guidance along the way.
I can still remember sitting in one of the tiny chairs talking to her teacher one day after school about the perpetual problem of toys on the floor. As I described the situation I can still remember this sweet, warm, and knowing smile spread across her face as she said one word, “consequences.” Children learn best through consequences or cause and effect. If she leaves something on the floor and it gets stepped on or broken, she will learn through the consequence. It doesn’t matter how many times you tell her something, it won’t be as an effective teacher as a consequence.
This was a hard lesson for me to execute in the beginning because like many first-time moms, I wanted to spare her from pain. Over time, however, I saw that consequence was a great teacher not only for her but for me as well. So now when my life if not playing out the way I would prefer it did, I ask myself “How is this event connected to a previous choice I made”? “What belief do I need to change”? and “What am I trying to learn”? Once I know the answers to these questions, I am able to change my thinking and create a new response.
I historically have used the Just Scribble activity in the ICWIB! Program to explore these questions. With this in mind, I invite you to explore some of the ICWIB! art activities and videos for FREE.
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