Some of my kids seem to have gotten whinier and whinier lately. And to say it is driving me bonkers would be an understatement. So, for the next week I am going to employ the following strategies to see if I can't bring the level back to tolerable.
1. Respond Immediately. Even if it means I tell them they have to wait a minute, at least kindly acknowledge they are requesting something (to speak/water/to play, etc.) when they are talking politely.
2. Think first, then answer. I have a bad habit of saying 'no' really often. And sometimes it doesn't really matter. But the worst is when I say 'no' twenty times and then decide it's not that big of a deal and let them. Probably nothing promotes whining worse than letting it work. So choose my 'no's wisely, not just as a first response.
3. Use a form of this phrase: "You are whining. I can't understand you. I would be happy to listen to you when you can use a nice voice like mine." And then don't listen until a non-whiny voice is used. Obviously since the offenders are 3 & 4, I will probably have to repeat this phrase several times at first.
4. Increase praise. Especially for the use of nice voices in everyday life. But all around too.
I am hopefully this will work, if I am good about it...
2 comments:
Did this work? I'm being driven crazy over here.
It helped a lot. I need to revisit it, especially letting them know I will not respond to whining, only nice voices.
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