Our second batch of kiddos has been a challenge since day one and has caused us to learn new and better ways to parent them with their set of challenges and ways we need to accommodate them. It could also be that We are several decades older than when I had my first batch of kiddos.
The first batch was not like the first pancake you throw out after you make it; they turned out to be amazing adults but have their challenging moments, too.
Reels were not a thing when I had my first batch of kiddos, and if I think long and hard about it, the internet may not have been a thing either, or rather just the start of the internet era.
I love to watch reels and send them to my husband, who is lying in bed next to me. I also like to send them to my adult children to remind them how much they love me.
Every once in a while, I will run across a reel that shakes me to the core.
This particular one I sent to 20 people and explained how it was spot on, and that’s where parenting like a police officer began.
After a hard day with our 10-year-old, I was unwinding on my phone after he went to bed and ran across a reel that shook me. Our day had consisted of redirecting, lecturing, lecturing again, and feeling like he just didn’t get what we were saying as we disciplined him. I ran across a parent challenging us to parent like a police officer.
He explained that if we are speeding as we are driving and get pulled over by a police officer, that police officer asks us if we know what we were doing to warrant getting pulled over, explains the law, writes us a ticket, and then sends us on our way. Before he lets you go, he says, “Have a nice day.”
We should do the same as parents and parent like a police officer.
When we find our child is doing something that we don’t want them to do, we need to ask them if they know what they are doing, tell them the consequences, and then move on (don’t belabor the point to rehash it over and over again), send them on their way and say “have a good day.”
The police officer doesn’t call you later that night and say, “Hey, let’s talk about that again and make sure you understand why I pulled you over…” He simply leaves you with a nice day sentiment.
This is a game-changer. I had no idea what lesson I would learn with this second batch of kiddos, but I’m still learning, and this time from a police officer.
