I can never seem to get my child ready and out the door in a timely manner due to constant non-compliance when getting dress.
Oh the morning rush delemnia… No one likes struggling with this. It’s chaotic and stressful for everyone involved.
Nothing is worse than when you’re already running late and can’t seem to get your child ready and in the car.
However, there are some things you can do that may help to quicken the process.
One of those techniques is to give choices in your child’s getting ready routine.
Choices, choices, and more choices!
Giving your child a choice in things like what snack they want to eat, which chore they’ll do first, or which shirt they want to wear can help to decrease instances of arguing/non-compliance.
The power of choice can be relieving for not only your child, but you as well for avoiding the overwhelming and exhausting power struggle.
It can be good to allow your child options to pick from.
Here at The ABA Parent Page, you’ll learn about choices, why you should be using them, and how to implement choices with your child.
Why provide choices?
Providing choices can increase the chance of compliance when asked to do less preferred tasks.
Sometimes it doesn’t really matter which task gets done first, just that they get done.
This strategy can help to avoid power struggles that come with dictating everything that children do. Remember, children are their own person and want some autonomy in decisions.
If you’re struggling with things like getting ready in the morning, this can help to get you and your family out the door quicker.
For instance, providing choices on two shirts for your child to wear can make the process of getting dressed go a lot faster.
How do I give choices to my child?
There are two avenues you can take when providing choices to complete task:
Give a choice in which task to do first. Think big picture here. Does it really matter which task is done first?
If not, this is a good solution to try when there are multiple tasks to do, but your child doesn’t seem to want to start any of them.
Provide a choice in the reward your child can earn for doing the task. A little motivator can encourage your child to get the original demand over with.
Allow them to choose between two different pieces of clothing. For example, let them choose between two different pairs of pants.
Just remember that whatever they choose you need to be ok with. There is no point in giving a choice if you decide they shouldn’t wear the pants they picked.
What kind of choices can I give?
You can allow your child to choose the order of different tasks they need to complete. Remember, sometimes it doesn’t matter which task comes first, just that they’re all done at the end of the day.
There is the option (see what I did there) to let your child choose where they want to do the work.
You can also let your child pick what materials they want to use for the activity.
The big key factor is that, no matter what two options you give, you must be ok with whatever choice your child picks.
If you don’t like their choice, that’s too bad. It’s important to follow-through on the choice.
If you decide they shouldn’t have picked that choice, then all your teaching is that their voice doesn’t matter. Leading to this strategy failing in the future.
Take Aways
The magic of providing choices to your child can help to eliminate the extra time it can take to get something done.
Avoid that power struggle that can sometimes happen when we simply tell children what to do.
There are unlimited ways in which you can incorporate the power of choices when it comes to daily activities.
Let’s talk about behaviors! Here at The ABA Parent Page, you can learn about the different strategies from ABA to use in the home.