In the Give Them Power strategy, the focus is on recognizing that children want power and independence within the home. To help them feel more in control, it’s essential to give them some control in certain areas while maintaining boundaries in others. By being generous in one area and setting clear limits in another, you can create a sense of balance that allows your child to feel respected and valued. Additionally, giving your child choices to choose from can help them feel empowered and engaged in decision-making processes. Finally, it’s important to respect your child’s “no” and acknowledge their boundaries, helping them feel secure and supported in their independence.
Watch the below videos to illustrate this strategy and make sure to download the support PDF workbook.
Something to ponder: Put yourself in their shoes – your whole life you are told what to do. You have no say in anything in your life, you are told to go left, right, you can’t touch this, you don’t understand that, you can’t express what you want and no one believes you when you try to. As a result you either start believing you are worthless and become robotic and depressed, or you go on the defensive, hate on your caregiver and try to assert yourself. You are looking for power more than ever before.
Lesson Takeaways
- Give them boss time: let them have one hour of full freedom after a day of them having to behave at school
- Playing with you, attention from you, compliments from you, that’s what makes them listen
- Better off giving than controlling
- Too often we teach a child to control themselves and inside them is this strong desire to burst out and be naughty to get that freedom
- Give generous display of freedom and a place of boundaries, be generous in one area and boundaries in another
- They want some power and independence at home
- Give choices to choose from, they choose and we listen
- Teach them to use the word “no” and listen to it