HOW THE PHRASE “HOME TIME” CAN KILL YOUR PATIENCE?

“I always thought I would be patient Mom, and then I watched my kids try it for the hundredth time throw sand from shoes.“

How many times can parents call their children home from the playground? It would be better to record this message and replay it over and over rather than lose your voice while calling them. I think I tried all the ways to leave the playground easier. 

Also, I copied the rules of other parents, and used the most tender or the most dangerous words, but leaving the park while my kid’s playing can be traumatic.

I found a few tips that helped me calmly take the children out of the Park, the playground, or other places where my kids want to stay forever. I hope these tips are also helpful for you.

TIP NUMBER 1

Never, ever take your child away suddenly from getting fun. I know that sometimes we are late, tired or we are meeting a friend for a coffee and then your children seem to read your mind and do everything they can to extend the exit from the park. As in many observed situations, the rush will end in crying, running away, or lying down on the ground.

TIP NUMBER 2

Prepare your children that we are about to leave the playground. Children in this period don’t understand the concept of time, so come up with something like that: 

•  “We will go home when you finish these sand towers”
• “The last 10 times on the swing and we will go home“
• “Use the carousel or the trampoline last time and then we will go home”.

Watch out for older kids, like my 5-year-old boy, who is already trying tricks: slow counting, taking long breaks, and repeating numbers while swinging. The best solution is to count aloud with them.

TIP NUMBER 3

Remind the child that is not over the play and that we will go out again after lunch, or we have at home a new art project to create. Think about other fun your kids like best, my kids came crazy when they hear “playdough time”.

TIP NUMBER 4

Be prepared that if one child doesn’t want to leave the playground, the other will not follow you, but their brother. In this case, you can apply praise such as:

“See how good your sister is, she’s already in the stroller because she wants to go home”.

“See how good your brother is, he has picked up the toys already and wants to go home.”

You entered the form with a little jealousy. If Mom praises his sister, he wants to be praised too, and vice-versa.

TIP NUMBER 5

These tips remind me of when my kids were little, then this sentence worked:

“Ok! So Mommy goes home, bye-bye”.

But when the kids turned two, their answer was: 

“Okay Mommy, see you at home”.

TIP NUMBER 6

This clue is about our character and our patience – try not to get upset quickly. 

All my friends say I have the patience of an angel and I never piss off. Believe me, I’m not an angel.

Have you ever heard that your bad emotions affect children?

You can find many articles on this topic. Therefore, I faithfully stick to and practice the methods in which:

1. Mom doesn’t get mad quickly. 
2. Mom doesn’t raise her voice for no reason.
3. Mom doesn’t scare children with punishments.

In addition, at the beginning of being a mother, I also chased children around the playground and carried them home crying. All sweaty, I hid in the bathroom to breathe deeply and not explode. 

But as they say, “Practice makes the master“. Over time, I learned to calm down and followed all of the tips above.

There is one confirmed fact, every child is different. My son’s behavior is the complete opposite of my daughter’s. Of course, the younger one copies the behavior of the older one, but Patrick never did the “lie on the ground and cry” action for me, and Dora had this story more than once. https://littlepuzzlesandme.com/how-to-survive-the-day-with-two-small-children/

For me, it is important to see every day that my efforts are moving forward and the children themselves pack the sand toys into the stroller. I’m glad my parenthood is doing well at times.