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How to speed up slow kids |
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by lindterbean  (August 2006) (rank 84th) |
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Our youngest is the slowest kid on the block - not on the field, but the tempo of her life is definitely
Largo. Frustration being the stepmother of invention, we have come up with various tactics to light the proverbial fire. Here are a few choice battles that we
eventually won:
showering:
- Explain that if we let the water run and run even when we are not using it, all the little fishies in the lake will have nothing left to swim around in.
- Explain the concept of a water bill.
- Remove all bathtub distractions like dolls and fun smelling bath products.
- Invest in a cute kitchen timer that she has to race when she showers.
- Grin and bear it because she is just so cute when she sings in the shower.
getting ready to go out of the house:
- Give her a set time we need to leave the house.
- Give her a set time we need to leave the house that is 10 min earlier than when we actually do need to leave the house.
- Give her a ten or twenty count depending on how far along she is when you start counting,
- Give her time consequences: If you take more than 2 minutes we won't have time to stop by the pet store before the movie and pet the puppies.
dilly dallying while picking up her room:
- Set the kitchen timer. (But then things have a tendency to end up thrown under the bed or in the closet.)
- Set the piano metronome to a fast setting, then clap along with it until she gets the rythym and moves along with that. Come back occaisonally to get her going again. This works for short bursts.
- Tell her if her room is in good shape before you start baking cookies she can help or lick the bowl, otherwise you'll just have to do it yourself.
eating:
- Make sure she sits at the table until she is done. Wait with her for a short time, then get busy in the kitchen washing dishes, cleaning up, etc.
- Start something really fun afterward that she would want to participate in where she can hear it but not see it.
- If you have dessert, if she is not finished before everyone has finished dessert, she gets no dessert.
bedtime stalling:
- Give her a set lights out. Non-negotiable.
- If she takes to long getting ready for bed, that is less time she will have to read before bed.
