Imagine that you’re doing your weekly grocery run. You have your 3-year-old with you and they’re doing well, sitting in the cart and playing with the toy you thought to bring for them. (Well done!)
Then you turn down the juice aisle. You just need a half-gallon of apple juice, but as soon as they see the shiny silver of the Capri Sun pouches they ask, “Mommy, juice box, please?” You kindly and gently say no, but you already know there’s a tantrum brewing. What are you going to do?
If you’re like most parents, at this point you’re thinking things like:
- I knew I shouldn’t have come down the juice aisle
- Maybe I should just get them, so he doesn’t start screaming?
- What am I going to do if he starts screaming? This is going to be so embarrassing
- If I get angry and yell, all these people are going to think I’m a terrible parent
Managing discipline is tough at any time. Today we’re talking about discipline in public places, which is even trickier now than it might normally be, given the pandemic situation—though obviously that looks different based on where you live.
In this week’s video, we discuss:
- At what age can we trust our children to remember about social distancing?
- What is a parent’s #1 problem when it comes to kids’ behavior in public?
- What counting your child in public looks like (including what happens when you get to 3)