How to Convince Your Kid to Leave the Playground?
We often witness how an exhausted mother drags her crying child by the hand while he or she stamps his/her feet and cries. All the mother’s entreaties like “We will come back after dinner”, “We will go to the store and then return” are useless, and the kid continues crying and balking. How can you convince your kid to go home without hysteria, stubbornness, and disputes?
Negotiate
Child psychologists have proved that you can make an agreement even with a one-year-old child. However, you will have to try very hard. It is essential that the child should learn to listen to you. The easiest way to do this is to talk to him or her all the time. Even when you think that the little one cannot understand what you’re talking about, do not stop. While the child is in a stroller, tell him/her about everything that is happening in the world: Dad has gone to work, the mail carrier has brought a letter, and the pet dog wants to go for a walk. Describe the world around you: tell the kid what beautiful trees grow outside the window, what color the passing cars are, or what a woman you see on the way is wearing. Read interesting books aloud and comment TV cartoons all the time. The baby will get used to the mother’s soothing voice and learn to listen to everything she says. When the little one gets older, he or she will hear everything that mom says, and it will not be difficult to heed her request and go home with her.
Most importantly, do not cheat the child. If you have promised to drop by at the shop and buy delicious ice cream or a new toy, do it. Otherwise, the kid will remember your deception and never take the bait again. To deal with the child’s whims, you can try to switch his or her attention to something else. If the kid is used to listening to what the mother says, he or she will be interested to hear that on the way home you will pass by the pond where funny ducks swim, and you can feed them with breadcrumbs. It is not necessary to constantly repeat the same phrase, “Let’s go home”. Be creative and try get along with your child.
Improvise
Kids live in a fantasy world, where even inanimate objects are alive. Use it! Tell your child that swings and sandpit are tired, and they certainly need to have some rest, so now it is time to say goodbye to them until next time. Let the kid say, “Goodbye!” to the slide, swings, and the bench. Sometimes, this helps the kid to finish the game and switch to another activity.
Bring a positive example
If other kids on the playground are going home, and your kid does not want to finish the game, try to make an example of his or her peers to show that it is time to leave the playground. “Look, your friend is leaving with her mother, and these boys are gathering their toys. Now everyone will be gone, and you will not have anyone to play with! Let’s go home and build an airplane from the new construction set! ”
Warn
You can always persuade the kid if you do it gently, in a calm and friendly voice. Warn the child beforehand that you will soon need to go home. Call him or her to come up to you and say that after 20 minutes you will go and have dinner, and then let the kid play a little more. After 10 minutes, call your child again and remind that you will soon be leaving. When the time comes, help the little one gather the toys, talking about what you are going to do after dinner. Thus, leaving for home will not be a surprise for the child, and he or she will have time to finish the game.
Talk about those waiting for you
If the kid is involved in the game and does not want to go home, remind him or her about his/her favorite bear (doll, car) which is missing the child and wants to play with him/her very much. Say that you cannot wait to play the new game that you bought yesterday or think of any other business that the kid can do at home. This may be an unfinished birthday card for the grandmother, the dough from which you are going to bake delicious pies, an unread fairy-tale or a cartoon that is about to begin.
Make going home a game
Almost all moms take kids for lunch at about the same time. Take advantage of this! Have all the children play a funny game of “Who will be the quickest to gather all the toys” or “Who will run the fastest to the front door.” Kids love to compete, but do not forget about prizes: let the winner get a tasty sweet or a Kinder Egg.
Eat only at home
If your child is very difficult to distract from the game and take away home, make it a rule not to snack in the street. Let the kid get used to the fact that you eat only at home, and when he or she feels hungry, he/she will stop the game and leave the favorite swing to go home and have lunch.
