Do you find your kids saying, "Mom, do you know what?" "Mom, do you know what?" "Mom, do you know what?", without giving you half a second in between to answer them?
Less Whining
If we want less whining in the house, we need to remember first of all that our kids are still learning. Take a step back, take a breathe, and remember - this is a lifelong journey of training. If you have any manners yourself, you can rest assured that your kids will eventually learn theirs. In the meanwhile, it is our responsibility to calmly and repeatedly train them in the areas that they lack.
In particular, we are looking at having less whining. We want our kids to ask us in a polite tone of voice and then wait for our response before repeating their request.Intentional training in this area can be very effective. In other words, take the time to get down on your child's level and teach them, modelling the type of behaviour you would like them to imitate. Say, "Angel, when you want to talk to me, please first make sure you have my attention. You are very important to me and I don't want to ignore you. Sometimes when you speak to me and I am in the middle of something then I don't hear you nicely. Call me - say, 'Mom' or touch my leg, and then count to 5 (or 10) and wait for me to answer. If I didn't hear you, then after you've counted to 5, call me again. 'Mom.' ONLY when I look at you and you can see my eyes, THEN you can tell me your story or tell me what you want. That way I can listen nicely to you."
This demonstrates to your child not only how you expect them to speak to you, but also that they are valuable in your eyes. Instead of feeling ignored and like it is impossible to get your attention, they know that you want to give them undivided attention - but they just need to learn how to ask for it.
Once you have explained this to your kids a few times you should see a dramatic improvement in the repeated whining - however, expect to have to repeat this lesson every once in a while, less and less as they grow older. Training your children in this way will undoubtedly result in less whining in your home. Most well loved kids just want to please their parents - but sometimes they just forget how!
