So you know when your kids are little, and they misbehave in public, but people say “aww they are so cute they are fine, just let them keep misbehaving.” Or people come up to you in the grocery story just to look at your cute little baby? Now, don’t get me wrong, I do this all the time, I love to look at babies and see cute kids. But what do you do when your kids aren’t cute anymore?
What do you do when your school-aged kid starts yelling or getting antsy in his chair, and you just get a look from other moms, (which we need to stop the mom judging) instead of the “He’s so cute” talk. These are hard times for moms because our babies are growing up, and we still think they are adorable. Unfortunately, not everyone sees it that way.
1. Teach our kids to be polite and kind
Yes, our kids aren’t cute anymore. But if we teach them to be polite, to say their pleases and thank yous, this goes a long way. My oldest son is super polite, and you know what, adults love him. He is always very polite to everyone. He is always ready to help. And he goes out of his way to be kind to everyone, even people who are not kind to him. He does not know how to be mean. He is a teenager now, and definitely not “cute” anymore. But he is so sweet because he is so polite.
So let’s teach our kids to be polite, this will help them be seen as sweet kids, even if they aren’t cute anymore. This will also help them interact well with adults along with kid their own age.
2. Teach our kids social cues
This goes along with making sure your kiddos are polite. A lot of times little kids will just talk and talk even after an adult or another child has become disinterested. This is cute when the kids are little, but what about when your kids aren’t cute. We need to teach them to watch other people; when their body language says they don’t want to listen anymore, they don’t want to be climbed on anymore, our kiddos need to learn it is time to stop what they are doing.
Now, this probably won’t be a problem with other kids, because they usually say when they are done. But our kids need to watch adults for that social cue that they are no longer interested. This is also helpful in school for our kids; if they learn to see the social cues of the teacher, they will know when to be quiet. This will go a long way in them doing well in school.
3. Don’t be embarrassed
This is more for us than our kids. But when our children start talking or misbehaving. It does not help if we get embarrassed. I know from experience. This just makes them talk more or do more bad behavior. What we need to do is get our kiddo out of the situation. Then, later when everyone has calmed down, we can discuss with our kiddo what they did wrong and what we are going to do next time that is different.
I don’t have all the answers for this time in our kids’ lives, but if we follow these three tips, we will be well on our way to what to do when our kids aren’t cute anymore.
Vanessa is a Doctor of Pharmacy who champions natural health. She lives with her husband of 18 years as well as her 12 & 15 year old sons. She aspires to encourage moms on their journey to family wellness through holistic health and essential oils.
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