BEHAVIOUR PROBLEMS: HOW TO MANAGE?
Young children readily sense this reluctance, and invariably take advantage of these situations. Everyone has seen a parent in a supermarket struggling with one or several young children. Their demands get shriller by the minute, and the embattled parent usually gives in to whatever the demand is to avoid further embarrassment. This of course virtually guarantees that the same battle will take place next time.
You can minimise these situations by considering the following:
• Do not take your child shopping or visiting. This is obviously the last resort, but may be necessary at times to break a cycle.
• If he is good, praise him and give him the reward as promised.
• If he begins to misbehave, try ignoring him (the first rule of behaviour modification). If this is not possible, warn him (once only) that if he does not stop, you will take him straight home and he will go to his room for time-out.
• If he does not stop, carry out your threat immediately, without further discussion. Be consistent. If you do this several times, the child will quickly learn that to misbehave when out shopping inevitably has consequences, and the testing behaviour will likely stop or reduce significantly. The difficult thing, of course, is to carry out the threat, leaving your shopping right in the middle, or curtailing your visit to friends or family. If you are not prepared to do this, then do not threaten to do it.
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