Are you a parenting on repeat?
I am constantly repeating myself. I think I read somewhere in the annals of parenting, that if you say something over and over again, eventually it will stick in your child’s mind and they will learn from it. As a whole, this is not happening with my toddler. There are a few moments when she repeats something back to me. Yay! Then does what she wants anyway. So she can hear! She’s just not listening to my record on repeat. CD on repeat? MP3? Whatever. I’m old.
I keep reminding myself, the reason I know the words to my favorite rap song are because I listen to it over and over and over again. Eventually it just sticks. And look me now. A true gangsta rappa! I can only hope that by continuing to loop these helpful tips, eventually I won’t sound like a broken record and she’ll hear what I say. Or maybe I’ll start rapping my instructions. Yeah boi!
- Don’t touch that! I say this so much it hurts. Toddlers and their curiosity make them want to touch everything. Even gross poopy diapers. I feel like this one is okay to repeat because I’m an out and proud germaphobe.
- Put that down! Once said child has touched the thing I don’t want her to touch, invariably she picks it up. Like that half eaten sandwich at the park. Or a bug.
- Don’t EAT that! This goes hand in hand with touching things. Next step, right in the mouth! (That’s what she said.)
- Do you hear me? The answer is always “no”. But I’m learning to switch up the question to, “Are you listening?” We’ll see how that goes.
- Say please and thank you! I know we all want our tots to be polite little angels so this one gets thrown in a lot. I’m not sure if she knows why she’s saying please and thank you, but I’m damn sure gonna make sure she learns to say it after she orders someone to “MOVE!”. This happened.
- Do you need to go pee pee/poo poo? I know “technically” we’re not supposed to ask this one because experts say they will always say no. But I don’t want pee or poo on my floor. So I ask.
- Hold still! If I could bottle whatever is inside toddlers that give them that boundless energy I wouldn’t be writing this damn blog. Instead I’d be counting my millions of dollars on a beach in Maui.
- I love you! Awwww 🙂 Okay this one should absolutely be on repeat. What? I didn’t say the looping was all bad!
Do you find yourself repeating these phrases? What things do you say on repeat? I’d love to hear from you!
