Families with Young Children

Tuesday's lecture was definitely one of my favorites so far. I loved talking about parent and child interactions and the importance of play in that relationship.  I especially liked the story Dr. Hollist told about the little boy who wore his pants backward to church. 

Kids have a mind of their own and parents have to know when to give in.  I have been babysitting for almost 8 years.  I have watched children of all ages and I have seen a lot of different relationships between parents and children.  These styles really determine how a child turns out AKA what their personality and values consist of.  My parent's parenting style was strict yet laid back.  They were always involved in my life and so they always knew what was going on with me in all aspects of life. I knew what was expected and as long as I did what was expected I had a great deal of freedom.  I hope to be the same kind of parent.

  I liked discussing discipline as well. Discipline while important can backfire if it is not used correctly.  I think the five steps we discussed in class can really help in a situation in order to maintain composure and dicipline well...benefitting you and the child.  As a babysitter, I have had to deal with situations of behavior management.  I once babysat for a family of 5 boys.  Crazy, right?  They were so hyper and insane that I had to be creative when I used dicipline. Now that I have learned the 5 new steps I hope to incorperate them into my everyday life with the children I babysit for.