Effective Communication with Two Year Olds, Twins Included

THE 3 C'S TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION:

For my birthday two years ago, my sister gave me this book called Making the Terrible Twos Terrific. Here are the 3 C's of Effective Communication with a Two Year Old:

1. BE CLEAR
Let's say you are in a supermarket or a mass retailer store you like to shop at. While in that store, you tell your child, "Please be a good girl or boy while in the store". Those are a lot of words entering a two year old little ears.

Ever since my twins turned two, all I have been hearing from my family and my close friend is, "They are only two years old." What does that mean? Really, what does that mean, they do not need discipline or boundaries? No, it just means they have a short attention span and you, the Mommy or Daddy, need to speak in simple terms and words.

So, if you are in a store with your two year old, simply say, "Stay close to me" or, "Stay in your stroller", or "Stop touching that" and finally, "Be quiet".

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Do you find yourself using the word "Don't" alot with your two year old? At times, I have to admit, that word slips from my lips. Did you know a two year old does not comprehend the word "don't"? Well, they do not understand its meaning.

That being said, let's get to number 2 for effective communication:

2. CLARITY
If you find yourself saying, "Don't", it is time to change strategies. A two year will not understand what you are saying. In fact, they may look at you funny. So, to make your point simple and to the point, tell your child "No", when the climb on your table, otherwise, all they will hear is "Gibberish, climb on the table." Oh yeah, and you can say "No" with a kind voice, yelling is useless. If saying "No" is not effective, how about saying, "Get down." This is a phrase my twins know very well. (LOL).

Remember, you are not carrying on a conversation with a 5-25 year old. It is best to keep your communication concise, otherwise, your toddler will only hear, "Gibberish table, gibberish fall, more gibberish doctor, blah, blah, Mommy hurt." Wow, that is a lot of gibberish as you can see.
So, how about keeping it simple and concise with simply saying, "Get down."

Finally, let's look at how you should speak with authority.

3. COMMAND
To be in command of a two year old is a feat in and of itself. Believe me, I am a work in progress as learning how to command my twins with clarity, being concise and command in my voice.

So, with that said, being a wishy-washy parent is not a good thing. If you are wishy-washy, your child will see right through you and wear you down, big time. Did you know that toddlers want structure, discipline and boundaries? It makes them feel safe and secure.

If you are wishy-washy, you may use these tactics to get your toddler, two year old, to do what you want them to do. These tactics include pleading, bargaining, bribery and threatening.

To get your two year old to obey you, how about saying, "I want..." or "You must"... or "It's time for you.." or something similar to these sentence starters.

Let's say your two year old, or toddler, want you to read to them. Well, you are more than happy to read to them but only if they clean up their toys first. If they will not clean up their toys, let time pass until their toys are cleaned up. Otherwise, you will not read to them.

This is just an example, of course, and you will probably change the discipline depending on the situation.

So, there you have it, the 3 C's of Effective Communication with a two year old.

Now go out there and practice it!

God Bless!

Making "Terrible" Twos Terrific