I'm doing a college psychology assignment about children ages 2-5...?

Question

What is the hardest aspect of raising them? The easiest?
How do you expect your toddler to act toward you? Toward others?
How would you teach them to behave?
Do you allow them to make decisions?
Please parents, moms or dads, please help me.

Answer 1

What is the hardest aspect of raising them? The hardest part about raising my daughter is keeping my own cool when she misbehaves. It's hard to remember that she doesn't know any better when she ruins something you love or when she hurts you.

The easiest? The easiest aspect of raising my daughter has been teaching her manners. It's just so darn cute when they say please or thank you.

How do you expect your toddler to act toward you? I expect her to be kind, loving, and open.

Toward others? I expect her to be cautious, but polite.

How would you teach them to behave? I have taught her to always use her best manners, even at home.

Do you allow them to make decisions? Absolutely. She is two and she is certainly able to make simple decisions such as which or two outfits to wear or which or two snacks she would like. She is unable to make complex decisions at this point still.

Answer 2

Probabally what is hardest is the fact that they are totally unpredictable. I could have a great, easy, fun, time at the grocery store, or I may no be able to get one thing without her trying to get out of the cart, screaming, etc.
My daughter is 2 and a half and has a very strong will. For the most part she is pretty good towards us, but has just started "talking back" and yelling. This is not acceptable, but she isn't old enought to do much more than explain that she can't yell and not give in to her demands. She chooses which story she want to read before bed and what color of freezie she would like. That is about how far her choices go. I guess I give her the choice to stop doing something or I will take it away. I have started counting to three as I think it work amazing. I only do it with simple things for now to instill that I really mean it. When I get to three the punisment comes in.
Hope this helps

Answer 3

I have two boys. One is almost 3 and the other is 14 months.

The hardest part is being consistant which is so very important. For example, when he is whining because he wants something, I can't give in to him one day and not the next. I believe children need predicability so I also try to discipline him the same way for certain situations. I always thought it sounded easy but now I realize it's not.

The easiest thing is playing and having a good time together. I love to take them to the park or zoo or anywhere where they learn and smile often.

I expect him to be respectful to me and to others. The obvious, no yelling, hitting etc... I also expect him to obey when I tell him not to do something or when I tell him that I need him to do something.

I try to teach him by example although that is very hard too. I mostly teach him by having normal conversations with him. I know that his brain doesn't work like an adults but I try to answer all of his questions honestly and at a level where he will understand. Also, God is a big part of our lives. He goes to church regularly and we talk about what it means to love someone. (That love is an action, not just a feeling.)

I allow him to make many decisions but they are all narrowed down to a couple choices. For example, he gets to decide between two different kinds of cereal for breakfast, what kind of fruit he wants, what clothes he wants to wear, etc... I try to teach him to be responsible through letting him make decisions and try to teach him to make wise choices because his choices in life will have lasting a effect. I know little choices don't seem to matter now but I figure it's practice for the bigger stuff :)

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

Hardest Aspect. Getting through the tantrums and telling me NO!
-Easiest- Bed time and bath time.
-I expect my child to respect my authority and know I mean what I say. Towards others with respect as well.
- I teach him by correcting him when he does something thats not nice or right. Time outs work if he will not listen.
- Yes I allow him to make decisions (sometimes) I'd say I might need o work on that more, hes my only one and I find myself babying him more than I should.


Crystal
Mother of 1 (2 year old boy.) Texas

Answer 5

My son is two and a half. He is just starting to get to the point where he'll argue or yell at me when I don't do or say what he wants. I always calmly tell him that yelling is not nice and we don't do that. Since I've started reminding him of this when it happens, he has become more aware and is doing it less. I allow him to decide as many things as I can let him. Nothing super important, but I try as often as I can to give him 2 options and let him decide. 'Milk or water' 'Waffles or pancakes' 'This book or that one'. I try to instill a loving attitude towards everyone we come into contact with and hope that by doing so that I will teach him to be an accepting, understanding, open-minded adult. The hardest aspect of it is just trying to maintain a great attitude while he's around. Being a single mother with no help AT ALL from his father, things get to be a struggle sometimes. As of right now, all I've done seems to be working. He laughs and smiles all the time and has yet to get into a biting or hitting stage!

Answer 6

i have raised 4 kids, and have a b.s.n., and have worked with kids/babies over 20 years. the hardest aspect of raising them is probably the worrying you do over small things, like when will mary learn to tie her shoes, or when will billy be potty-trained. parents tend to read books/ get advice that has certain ages as milestones for certain accomplishments. i have learned that is more important to focus on what the child is doing at their age, whether it is age appropriate or not. children of pre-school age cannot differentiate fantasy/reality, until later, so they can have a lot of fears. working with your children at the place they are at is very important. i taught my toddlers to say please and thank you, taught them to act as i would want them to act if in a situation, when older, good habits were learned. my kids responded to this well. the decisions i let them make were like, do you want to wear the blue shirt or the red one, or do you want to eat apples or oranges. no big choices, as they cannot be responsible for their choices if given too much leeway....do you want to play in the street ot the yard..never. they are more secure when they know a parent is there as a boundary, even if they don't always appreciate it at the time. safety is very important in this age group. sharing is learned during this time, but at age 2, they have much more difficulty with it than at age 3,4, or 5. hope that helps. good luck on your assignment.

Answer 7

One of the hardest things is that kids that age are so curious they get into everything....you have to constanly keep an eye on them....sometimes that is hard....you have to leave the room sometimes....just for like 20 seconds and when you get back they will be on top of the table.....I also agree with the answer before mine....it is hard to keep your cool....you have to realize they are just trying to learn things and really don't mean to hurt things or break things.....not getting mad is tuff

the easiest thing is just letting them be kids....watching them learn and grow...that is one of the best parts of being a parent....they suprise you everyday with something new.

I don't know what to really expect....I want him to act like a kid, but at the same time listen to what he is told.

Teaching them to behave is a tricky one....I like to use timeouts but a spanking is not out of the question.....

I do sometimes....My son is just starting to be able to let you know what he want....you can ask him if hes done eating and he will let you know....I do things like let him pick out the book he want to read before bed...even though I know he really don't know what they are saying yet....yet he always seems to grab the books that are more colorful....

Answer 8

Hardest-keeping up with them and discipline, & potty training.
Easiest-Loving them unconditionally and spoiling them.
I teach my daughter to behave like a respectful little girl. Please and Thank you are very important to teach early on and my daughter even says 'bless you' when someone sneezes.
I let my daughter make decisions about anything that doesn't really matter, like what to wear around the house or what color she wants to draw with. This is the only way they ever learn independence.

Answer 9

Well, I expect him to use his manners with both me and others and to be respectful.I teach him by rewarding him. When he’s bad I discipline him, well, I try to, I have to stop giving in to him. For example when we’re at a store and he’s screaming that he wants something, I’ll give it to him to make him stop screaming, and it’s embarrassing. I know it’s not smart because he won’t learn anything.When he disobeys me I won’t let him play with his toys and I’ll take away and hide his favorite toy until he behaves again. At night if he disobeys, I’ll make him go to bed earlier than his bedtime.Seth makes decisions with his clothing. I’ll put two outfits out and I’ll ask him which one he wants to wear. The most difficult thing is teaching him manners. He’s not too bad when it comes to it, but I constantly remind him to say please and thank you. The easiest is potty training. He was very easy to teach and he learned fast.

Answer 10

The hardest I think is to parent when you are sick. I don't have a chronic illness but I mean just if you have the flu or something it's hard.

The easiest is just playing with them and having fun (once you sit down to do it- before that it's easy to think of a million other things you "have to" get done. )

I expect respectful language ("Mama would you please" instead of "I want you to"), no hitting or anything like that, and obedience. Funny thing is I get it. Parents I know who don't expect it don't get it. I also expect my daughter to treat me as kindly as I would expect her to treat another child- e.g. if she can't grab stuff away from another child she can't grab stuff away from me (and she doesn't- she asks). I also expect her to put a toy away before she gets out another one (unless she's doing something with both toys at the same time) and she will but sometimes needs to be reminded.

I allow my daughter to make as many decisions as she can handle. She decides what to wear (for the most part), how much she wants to eat (I won't make her something else but she doesn't have to eat anything I put in front of her if she doesn't want to), what to play with, and even I'll ask her about her choices for family activities (do you want to go to the park or the library). Also hard things can be made easier by choices. ("It's time to get ready for bed. Do you want to brush your teeth first or put on your pajamas first?") you get them thinking about the choice and they don't throw a fit about the part they don't like. Also decisions are a great discipline method. ("We need to go to the car now. Are you going to walk there or do I need to carry you?" and that's it- if she doesn't walk there she gets carried right then- no yelling, bribing, threats, etc.)