Kids are notoriously terrible at waiting. Patience is just not something that comes easily to young children who want everything RIGHT NOW.
With every new piece of technology that comes out, our kids become more and more dependent on instant gratification. As a society we’ve forgotten how to stick with long-term projects and reap the rewards of our patience and hard work.
Anyone else tired of dealing with attitude in your little ones? It seems like the minute my son turned three his sass level skyrocketed through the roof and just kept ramping up each day!
From a very early age kids learn that they can use their words as a means of control over others, because it’s what they’ve seen in adults. Parents are constantly using their words to instruct, redirect, or discipline their children. It’s only natural that our kids would begin to mimic this behavior.
We’ve all done it at one point or another…bribing our kids to gain their cooperation. “If you finish your dinner, you can have a cookie.” “Be a good boy at Grandmas house and then we can go to the park.” “If you do your homework, then you can have some TV time.”
It is so easy to fall into the trap of bribing our kids, because it seems like the quickest way to gain their compliance. Parents say “it works” because it gets kids to do what we ask, but bribes can have long-term negative effects on our children’s motivation and behavior. Here are 5 reasons to stop bribing your kids and what to do instead:
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Small babies and young toddlers are notorious for their beautiful spirit and infectious joy, which comes from knowing little about the world in which they live. Babies need nothing but love, and the essentials – nourishment, shelter, security. As children grow and learn more about the world throughout the years, they begin to want more than just our love and the essentials.
In her book, Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World, Kristen Welch states, “When our kids begin to expect – even demand – more than our love, that’s when we have a problem. What our culture feels entitled to isn’t just stuff. It’s the desire to fit in, to feel good or happy all the time; it’s the desire for instant gratification and the demand to receive something just because we want it, hard work optional” (13).