Kid is sitting in the living room surrounded by what appears to be every single lego, duplo, megablock ever made by man. EVER. Dinner time is fast approaching and the table needs setting, and the floor, obviously, needs to be cleared. Based on past experience child will likely ignore your upcoming request to start cleaning. What to do?
TRY THIS:
1. Smile - a relaxed body language puts the kid at ease, reduces defensiveness
2. Get down to kids level - don't tower over the child when a request is forthcoming and literally talk "down" to the child.
3. Say child's name - this gets kids attention and personalizes the request
4. Pay a compliment to their work - by doing this you are giving them the recognition and attention they love
5. Make your request, "Dinner will be ready in 5 minutes, I would like you to start putting your toys away in two minutes so we can have dinner on time."
NOT THAT: If you want dinner you need to put all your toys away this minute!
PS. This works great in spouses too.
