- Be clear and realistic: Make sure your requests are specific and doable. If you say, “Clean the garage,” your kids may manage to push the clutter around a bit. But if you say, “Please sweep the floor and stack the newspapers in a neat pile for recycling,” they will know exactly what to do.
- Simplify your requests: It is possible that your children may be ignoring you because they don’t understand what they are being asked to do. Try to keep your directives simple, with no more than three or four steps at most (“Please go to the upstairs bathroom, look under the sink, and bring the bandages back to me”).
- Motivate your grade-schooler: You might also give your children an incentive for doing what you ask: “When you put the puzzle pieces back in the box, we can go shoot some hoops.” They will not only feel included in the process, your kids will also appreciate the level of responsibility you bestow on them.
- Use alternatives to “no.” If your children ignore you when you tell them no, maybe it’s because they hear it too often. Try other approaches to the N-word. Rather than barking, “No! Don’t kick the ball in the kitchen,” for instance, say, “Please go play ball in the yard.”
- Try to be understanding: Whenever possible, give your children notice before you rush them into the next activity or errand: “We’re leaving in ten minutes, honey, so finish up.” This helps the child understand you much better.
Because dads don’t always think like moms™
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