3 Tools for EASIER Task Transitions with Your Toddler
Make a Plan Together
It may sound tedious but begin the day by creating a “game plan”. When your child has an idea of the order of the day, transitions become a lot easier (i.e.- breakfast, reading time, grocery shopping, lunch, quiet time, library, dinner…). They’ll know “what’s coming next”; it will no longer feel like an arbitrary list of events they are being dragged too but a day plan that they are apart of. Repeat the plan when moving from one event to the next (i.e. “we just finished reading now it’s time to go grocery shopping…”). Creating plans will begin to teach them ownership of their own time. It may sound crazy to teach your toddler time management but if they are practicing the skill early, they may find it easier to create game plans when it actually becomes a life requirement.
Count Your Breaths
A movement or breathe break in between different tasks allows the child to have a transition period. Most of us move from one task to the next without a break and we end up requiring our children to do the same, is it any wonder that they rebel? They are much more in tune to the need for an adjustment period in between task changes. Follow their lead! Take moments with them throughout the day to release excess energy, breathe, and regroup for the next task. Don’t condition them out of transition moments, EMBRACE them. Developing a healthy appreciation for small transitions will provide them with ease for the bigger life transitions that they will inevitably experience.
Promote Autonomy
OKAY… I know this one may elicit cries of “I’m the F**ckin parent!” but just hear me out: I’m going to suggest that most parents would agree that the goal of child rearing is to raise a competent, successful, compassionate human adult. Right? Okay so we need to raise them to be that. Too often we default to a controlling parenting style because they are too young to make decisions for themselves and then (at a random age) we decide “ENOUGH! GO BE INDEPENDENT.” I suggest we provide them with opportunities to practice independence as a developmental skill NOW: negotiate their options whenever possible, give them time to move from task to task on their own, etc. It’s a fine line between promoting autonomy and indulging whims, I know, but trust that they can have a little independence and be better for it!