Welcome to new look Mumii, the woman's magazine for every mum out there.
Mumii 8
We spend a lot of time explaining things to children, whether it’s worldly facts, the consequences of their actions or the plans of the day. We looked at some simple sentences that even the youngest of children will understand. Simple phrases which could mean a lot to your child and make them smile both inside and out.
‘I love you’ – Sounds simple and I am sure that your children already know this but how many times do you actually say it. Those three simple words make them feel secure – try using it as a positive after a negative. For example, ‘I’m really disappointed that you broke your brother’s lego model. I didn’t like that behaviour, I still love you but please don’t do that again. Alternatively, just go up to them and say ‘I love you’ out of the blue.
‘I’m proud of you’ – Pick up on the positives. Tell them that you are proud that they got a good report at the end of the school day. Praise them for having good manners, ‘I’m so proud that you remembered your manners at John’s party this afternoon’. It’s all positive re-enforcement of the ‘good bits’.
‘Well done’ – Again, remembering to emphasize the positives and the behaviour you would like to see more of. It’s not just a case of ‘well done, you won the race’. Those two little words can be used all over the place. ‘Well done for helping your sister tidy up her dolls’, ‘Well done for holding my hand nicely in town today’.
‘That’s amazing’ – Children are amazing and we sometimes forget the small amazing things these little people do. The most basic of play dough models could be a real accomplishment for a toddler – we may be able to do better but let’s encourage them and praise their efforts. ‘That’s an amazing train’.
‘Thank you’ – This sounds obvious but again sometimes we forget to thank our children for the little things. ‘Thank you for eating all the tea I made you’, ‘Thank you for being such a good boy at bedtime last night’. We encourage our children to say their ‘pleases’ and ‘thank yous’ but we need to make sure that we don’t forget to emphasize our own.
So there are just five simple phrases which we think will make your children smile and if they smile, we know that it makes you smile too. Can you think of any more that we should have included?
