We have a problem.
J (3Y8M19D) tends to wake up early now and refuses to sleep a little longer in his bed. I need time to get ready in the morning.
This is not the problem.
But while we are getting ready in the bathroom, this is what he does - just lying on the floor, getting in our way and wasting his time:
That's not a very good habit to have. So I encourage him to practise hand-writing instead.
To move him from lying on the floor to sitting down and writing happily wasn't that easy. In the beginning, he protested and was very grumpy. That was how he looked:
It got a little better, as I was firm that he has to complete his work, before he could go downstairs.
This is the finished work during the first time we tried, while he was very grumpy:
According to most experts, it takes on average three consistent sessions to change a habit. That's quite true. It got easier now. Today he got up early, while we were still in bed, really sleepy. So I made an agreement with him that if I woke up as he requested, he would practise his hand-writing, while I got ready. He agreed. He happily completed writing the letter "a", and got a sense of achievement.
To other parents, the question raised was, why be so hard on the child? I don't think we should pressure our children, but we should encourage and inculcate good habits. This teaches the value of hard work and self-discipline. And the best time to start is to start young. It is harder to change as one gets older.
I do think that your child will actually appreciate you for teaching him the value of hard work.
Besides writing ABCs, J requested on his own to practise hand-writing using dry-ease pen.
Today, he finished his writing, but I still wasn't ready, so I asked him to choose a puzzle to work on, while waiting for me to get ready. He chose the ABC puzzle. He started by going through the letters sinigng the ABC song, and then he put the pieces together.
The lap tray/ table is available on-line in Amazon:
Its clear that he is starting to enjoy his new routine. Well done, I hope I have enough self discipline to be steadfast and teach my son good habits.
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