Constantly correcting children

A dad was at a hotel swimming with his six-year-old daughter. He apparently was in the habit of giving her many warnings even when she was behaving just fine.

He told her many things like

• “If you don’t put on sunscreen, you’re not going swimming.”
• “Don’t splash anyone. People don’t like to be splashed.”
• “If you run, you might slip and get hurt.”

However, she wasn’t splashing, running or refusing to put on sunscreen. He was just warning her in advance.

The problem with these types of warnings is that the unspoken message is “I don’t trust you to know how to behave so I’m telling you.” This is not a message we want to be giving our children!

It’s easy to get in the habit of trying to protect our children from any and all mistakes. However, they’ll do better if we can show confidence in their ability to make good choices.