It's certainly convenient when your child can get his own snack or
pop in a DVD, but letting him have control of activities that you should
regulate doesn't teach him that he has to follow rules.
It may be cute
when your 2-year-old walks along the counter to get the cookies out of
the cabinet, but just wait until he's 8 and goes to visit a friend who
lives three blocks away without asking.
Establish a small number of house rules, and talk about them with your
child often ("You have to ask whether you can have sweets because that's
the rule").
If your child turns on the TV without permission, for
instance, tell him to turn it off and say, "You need to ask me before
you turn on the television." Stating the rule out loud will help him
internalize it.
When 3-year-old Sloan Ibanez took some markers
without asking and colored one of her arms completely yellow, her mom,
Tanzy, told her that she couldn't help with painting a garage-sale sign
later that afternoon.
She cried, but I knew I had to nip this in the
bud or else I'd pay the price later because she'd do it again and
again.
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