More partners:

Dream Quest One Poetry & Writing Contest

Lesson plans for Teachers

Is A Trip to The Shops a Child Behavior Nightmare For You?

by SandiBrown

If a simple shopping outing is a child behavior nightmare for you. If you are one of many parents who dread the weekly supermarket trip because you just know you'll face the embarrassment of screams, demands and probably a full blown tantrum. Then this is for you.

The good news is that there is hope and you are not alone in this situation. You are one of many parents who find taking their children out in public is so stressful they try and avoid it at all costs.

You probably wonder what on earth you've done or not done to end up with such little control over even a small child. How can a grown adult be dictated to by a small child?

It is not your parenting that's the problem. It's simply that you have never been given access to the kind of information and explanations that can make a difference. Now that's good new isn't it?

You see children are not really all that complex. When you learn why children act in certain ways you can also learn to respond in appropriate ways. These surprisingly easy techniques will radically change the outcome for you.

Let's start with a few crucial explanations of the reasons for some child behavior problems in certain situations.

Little children feel most happy doing child centered activities. Unfortunately many outings like supermarket shopping are not child centered in fact there is little for them to do but watch. A few children are happy doing this but for active toddlers they want to be moving about, running and touching everything. For safety reasons you can't let them run freely or touch things and the more you try and stop them the more frustrated they become.

Young children can't express how they feel. All they know is they feel more and more frustrated and less and less in control. Add to that the parents rising stress and anger and you have a recipe for disaster.

Here are a few simple tips to change that a nightmare outing into a pleasant one for you both.

First do some planning. Arrange to go for your shopping trip when your child isn't hungry, tired, thirsty or unwell.Your child will soon be very unreasonable if they feel any of these.

Plan where you are going and what you are going to buy before you leave. The old fashioned shopping list is a time and a stress saver.

Plan to go at less busy times if you can. Times when then the car park isn't full. Waiting for ages at the checkout is just asking for child behavior problems also!

If you have a child that really hates the confines of a shop see if a friend or Grandma can go with you. They can take your little one for a bit of a walk out of the shop for a change of scenery and a bit of special attention

Allow your child to assist you. Children feel important when they are given a job to do. They don't have time to feel left out or bored. Allow them chose some appropriate items, like between two breakfast cereals. Give them "an important" item to hold and "look after" to hand over to the checkout operator. Get children who are old enough love to find the bits and pieces on the shelf and deposit them in the trolley for you.

If you want to say thank you with a treat make sure they are "found" near the end of the shopping trip and never opened until you get to your car or are even back home. It's important children learn to wait and anticipation is actually a big part of their enjoyment.

Simple ideas like these can change the behavior of your child. If you have access to information which explains why your child misbehaves and how you should respond you will no longer have to dread going out anywhere with your child.

About the Author: Frank Cole