What teaching has to do with parenting

I have been working on renewing my teaching license (taking a lot of classes) and it's been a blessing in disguise. Not only had it made me grow as a teacher but it has helped me see that things that help with teaching and behavior management help as a mom too.

For example, transitions in a classroom are when kids can line up and go from one subject to the next smoothly. When students know what they're supposed to do, when and how they are supposed to do it, time is saved and there are less behavior problems. Yay hoo!

How does that relate to mommy hood? Kids from 2 mo to 18 years old benifit from routine and expectation. So think of a problem area in your day, a time that trips up your whole day, makes you frustrated or late. There is probably a transition problem with that part of your day. You expect something but your kids haven't quite got the memo. Time to train them!

For me it was the morning and getting dressed. My kids like to get up and watch a tv show. I needed them to get ready, but they would drag their feet. I said, after you watch for 15 minutes (half a pbs kids show) you have to get dressed, that's just the way we're going to do it at our house. (That statement gives me power baby!)

As long as I stay consistent it makes my whole day smoother. They know what I expect and when I expect it and they perform! Can I get a woot woot?

I did the same thing with bed time and it's helped. Bed time is still not the greatest but it's not so grizzly anymore.

So think about your day, where are the snags? Try training your kids, saying things like, sorry, that's just the way things are going to be now. And see if you can make some smooth transitions for your kids.