It is important that a child is supervised while being outside. A child should never be left alone, unattended or unsupervised, never mind alone outside. Keeping them entertained, making sure that they are safe, will keep them from causing trouble or getting hurt. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen children outside playing and their parents are nowhere to be found. Don’t expect them to stay out of the road without someone watching them. They need to learn their boundaries, where they can play and where isn’t safe. If a ball rolls into the road almost any child will run after it, unless there is an adult there to make sure otherwise. Anything can happen to a child that is not being supervised. A child that is allowed to run free without supervision is less likely to listen. They haven’t had to listen to anyone all day, so why are they going to start now? There are so many dangers in this world that children are not aware of. The world isn’t getting safer.
I have recently read on circle of moms.com that mothers are actually letting their 8 year old watch their 3 and 5 year olds alone outside. Their excuse is that they don’t have the time to be outside with their children and don’t want to “rob” them of playing outside during the summer. This seems so unrealistic to me. Not wanting to rob them of playing outside? How about robbing them of their lives? Just because a child has been alone outside before and nothing “bad” has happened, doesn’t mean that it never will. Having a completely fenced in back yard and visually seeing the child from the window can still be dangerous. Letting a child outside unsupervised is setting the child up for disaster. The 8 year old is not mature enough to watch the 5 year old. They’re not going to be able to stop a grown man from taking off with them, and could be taken easily with no one watching. Think about how many times a day a child has to be told stop doing this or stop doing that. Now unsupervised, they can get away with anything and no one would even know. Having a teenager who is responsible, isn’t going to ignore the children playing, and will keep them out of the road, or pick them up and bring them in the house if they feel the situation is unsafe is a better situation. Being a mother there is never enough time in the day. Barley having time to get in the shower everyday yourself or remembering to eat while dishing out breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and making sure they have their baths are more important. The child’s safety is more important and not an excuse for not having a clean house. Emma loves to go outside and play. She knows that after her nap time and snack time, it’s time to go outside and play. She will pick out the pair of shoes she wants to wear and it’s not always the same pair. She also knows where to put her shoes when she comes in. She is only two. I would never let an 8 year old watch her. She plays with all the kids in the neighborhood. There is a 9 year old, 8 year old, 7 year old, and two 5 year olds. Even with that many kids I would never let her play without adult supervision at all times. Now sometimes if I need to get something inside ill ask her aunt who is almost 14 to play with her while I get this or that done. Emma enjoys playing with her aunt. But even her aunt being 14 and as responsible as she is, it’s never for extended periods of time. The other children in the neighborhood run freely all day long. We are kind of on a dead end road and we know all of our neighbors, but that doesn’t make it OK. We’ve gotten numerous letters from our landlords about the kids staying in their own yards and leaving other peoples toys alone. Children can’t be expected to follow the rules all the time. They are just that, children. They are still learning their boundaries and sometimes they know better but still do as they please. If you don’t want out of control children then don’t let them run around the neighborhood out of control. Along with having a child (not teenager) unsupervised outside to play, is a very dangerous safety hazard (and I’m not sure is even legal) it is also not going to help them listen any better. If they know they are being watched and misbehaving isn’t going to be aloud, they will less likely need to be spoken to about their behavior. Everyone has their own views and opinions about this. These are mine.
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A child repeats a lot from what they learn from their parents. If they hear thank you and please, they are more likely to have better manners. As a parent, teaching manners is a big part of teaching good behavior. Children listen better when they are respected themselves. Showing a child respect and saying thank you will go a lot further then ignoring the child.
Emma says “Thank you” all day long. She will continue to say “Thank you” until she hears a reply of “Your welcome”. She is very polite for only being two years old. We are very proud of her and the way she behaves. She has even started asking “Are you Ok?” when someone bumps into something or something falls. Then she will keep saying it until she hears a reply. Now at 28 months Emma can throw away her own diaper. She does it without being told if I’m not fast enough at doing it myself. She will throw it away in the trash, the wrapper or stick to her ice pop when she is done, without being told to. She doesn’t play with the trash or throw away toys. When she throws something away we say “Thank you” and she replies with “Your welcome” and clapping her hands. She knows how proud we are of her. Her good behavior is followed by praise. When I was a child, my mother once told me “I’m not going to praise you for doing something you knew you were already supposed to do” No wonder I was a little brat. The only way I got recognized was for doing wrong. This is a horrible thing to say to a child. A child that gets praise for good behavior or positive reinforcement is used will more likely listen and have better manners. I was so worried about her learning empathy. I didn’t think she was going to pick it up as soon as she did. She always laughed if someone got hurt. She thought it was funny. She didn’t understand that other people can get hurt and thought it was a game. With time she has grown into such a caring baby girl and she is a total sweetheart. She hears me say Thank you all day long. I say thank you to everyone after almost everything. All day long I am saying thank you. I try to be the nicest person I can, and let people know that they are appreciated. Saying thank you, your welcome, I love you, and are you ok, is the most used words out of my mouth. In return my daughter has learned the same mannerisms. Everyone in my household uses thank you regularly. We are still working on the word please. Emma doesn’t hear the word please as much as the other words. When asking her to do something, I’m not giving her an option. I am telling her to do it. I will thank her for doing so, but it’s not an option it is a demand. She knows when I tell her to stop doing something or to do something she doesn’t have a choice, but will be appreciated for doing so. She listens even if she doesn’t want to. Sometimes she says no, because she doesn’t want to do something, she does it anyways. I know that she is saying no, because she doesn’t want to. Not because she is not going to do what I asked her. I still reply with don’t tell me no, but that’s the end of it, and followed by a thank you after she does what she is told. |
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