“Don’t make me come in there!”
“If I have to tell you one more time to ….”
How many times have you heard, or have you said these words yourself? Raising children is a constant vigilance to watch for habits that will not serve our kids well in their adult lives.
By allowing our kids to put off doing a task that we have asked them to do, we are teaching them many false ideas. First, they are learning that what we say is not truly that important. If it were that important we would make sure that they obeyed immediately. Second, we are allowing the habit of putting themselves and their wishes before someone else. Third, and most importantly we are not teaching them that “Slow Obedience is No Obedience”.
Realize that how we respond to our parents when we are young develops a pattern of how we will respond to outside authority and ultimately to God when we are adults. If they put us off, and wait until the very last moment to complete a task; they will be more inclined disregard the authority of a police officer or worse to do disregard God's commands.
I knew a woman used to count to 5. She would tell her daughter to do something, and then when she didn't obey immediately, she would say, "Don't make me count to 5." And then she would give the 5 count for her to comply.
This is not a good habit to allow. If your child heard your words, understood them, and has the power to fulfill the request. They should learn to immediately comply. Really, it makes it easier on you and them. The sooner they obey, the sooner they can get back to what they are doing. And you don't end up standing over them like police officer.
There may come a day when immediate obedience could save their life. If you tell your child to do or not to do something because of safety, but they are already in the habit of delaying to obey. What if it is in those few seconds that something disastrous happens?
I knew a woman used to count to 5. She would tell her daughter to do something, and then when she didn't obey immediately, she would say, "Don't make me count to 5." And then she would give the 5 count for her to comply.
This is not a good habit to allow. If your child heard your words, understood them, and has the power to fulfill the request. They should learn to immediately comply. Really, it makes it easier on you and them. The sooner they obey, the sooner they can get back to what they are doing. And you don't end up standing over them like police officer.
There may come a day when immediate obedience could save their life. If you tell your child to do or not to do something because of safety, but they are already in the habit of delaying to obey. What if it is in those few seconds that something disastrous happens?
It doesn’t take a blatant act of defiance to ruin everything. Sometimes, it only takes a delay to obey.
Please teach your child to obey, immediately, the authority that they have over them, whether it be a police officer, a teacher, or a babysitter. Teach your child that to obey is best for them! As much as our society likes to encourage free thinking and questioning authority, parents, teachers, etc. know more about life than children do, they can see more. And we need to teach our children to respond quickly to instruction.
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