This week we’re kicking off a month-long series on our podcast called, The Bottom Line. Each week, we’ll take an in-depth look at one age-group of children, starting with the earliest years and going all the way through their launch into the adult world. I think that moms these days get caught up in the weeds of parenting and forget to stop, step back, and look at the big picture. In this series, I hope to remind you what the Big Picture of each season is and how you can focus on that and not lose your way.

Ages 0-5

As I talked about on the podcast earlier this week, the Bottom Line for parents during this stage of childhood is to focus on obedience.  What does that mean?

• Teach your child that you are the boss, and they need to obey you. You do not need to do a lot of explaining at this age! There will be a time for that, but it’s not when they are 2 and 3 years old. “We don’t do that.” “No.” “You may not have that.” “Because I said so.” All of these are perfectly acceptable phrases in this stage! So often we over-explain ourselves, meanwhile our kids have already tuned out or moved on! Keep your rules few and make your consequences for disobedience clear.

Mommas, please realize your child is learning and growing! They will not “get it” overnight. This stage requires consistency and energy from parents to teach one simple thing to your child.  Don’t expect your child to hear something one time and get it, you need to re-visit behavior multiple times and when necessary, follow up with discipline.  

Success for this stage does not mean that by age 5 you will have perfectly obedient children who never misbehave. Remind yourself that your 4 year old is going to act like a 4 year old! Success right now means that your child understands you have authority in their life and their disobedience carries a consequence.