How to Properly Implement Rules at Home?

One of the greatest challenges is to discipline children. Children are like sponges and they will absorb any information around them. They easily imitate role models and mimic adults. Children may think that the world revolves around them. Parents should continue to nurture their children and properly guided. Children should be cherished in a proper way. In reality, disciplining children is never easy.  Through discipline, parents can enforce boundaries and educate their children. Discipline is not intended to bully or punish, but educate and make children become better individuals. Discipline shouldn’t become a tool for parents to lash out their frustration.  It is because parents tend to get frustrated by their surroundings. When making discipline rules, you should impart social boundaries.

Discipline should start with rules and children should be given constant aspects in their lives. Parents should make sure that things are predictable, so they will know what to do. Children may appear to be disobedient and breaking the rules, but in reality, they simply don’t know what to do. You can make things predictable only by setting boundaries and rules. By implementing these, children will know about things that they shouldn’t do. Children are still in the learning process and they will grow better through proper use of rules. So, parents should make sure that boundaries are set and rules are properly put into place. Children should learn about the consequences of their action.  There are different ways to implement boundaries and rules in the family:

• Make a short enough list that children will easily remember. For toddlers and first graders, three or four rules are enough. For children who are seven years old and above, ten basic rules should be enough.
• Always explain every detail of the rule. Encourage children to ask questions and provide satisfactory answers for them. Parents should explain what these rules mean. Ask children to explain these rules back to you, so you can be sure about their comprehension level.
• Rules should be placed in strategic locations, so everyone can see them. If rules are for small children, make sure that they are easy to understand for everyone.

In reality, implementing discipline is more about establishing rules. You should also try to reinforce and acknowledge your children, so they will be happy to obey the rules. Discipline will work well if you implement positive reinforcement. If rules are unfair and arbitrary, then you will have a potential crisis in your hand. Children will perform really well if you reward them for good behaviors. Make sure that these rewards are made explicit and you are making progress toward making children become motivated and satisfied members of the family. In fact, when children are motivated enough, they consider assigned tasks as a privilege and they will be happy to carry them out. When children have completed a task, you should thank children for it.  Often, children will eventually break rules, whether it’s intentional or unintentional. Again, you should make sure that punishment will help children to grow.