You love your children a lot and they mean the world to you. But there are some bad habits of theirs that just get on your nerves and all you can think about is getting them to stop doing it. There are many bad habits of your children that are not just annoying but will affect their personality deeply. These bad habits of children should be addressed and taken care of as early as possible so that it won’t affect their future personally and professionally. More often than none, these bad habits affect their development. Here are 5 bad habits of children that need to be corrected as soon as you notice them.
Once a liar always a liar, unless…
This is by far the most serious of bad habits that can have huge impacts on their life. Lying once in a while to prank their siblings and friends is not a major cause for alarm. But, if you notice that your child is lying about things like money, their whereabouts, school notices, marks, and similar things, you should start paying attention. If you notice that lying is beginning to become a part of their daily routine you need to take quick actions. Such behavior leads to them hiding things from you and more serious misdoings.
There is no such thing as, ‘I just lied one time’. It becomes an addiction unless acted upon. When they get the feeling that they can get away with anything by lying, it becomes a daily ritual. You need to sit down with them and have a serious conversation about why this behavior will not be encouraged. Be strict about it, but also have an open mind about what they have to say. Listen to whatever they have to say in their defense and try to understand why they did this, and explain why that was a bad thing to do. Help them to rectify the damage that may have been said by them. Give appropriate punishments so that they know this behavior will get them nothing.
Abusive language
Children now-a-days use bad language like it was nothing. Swear words have become the new coolest thing for them. But what they need to understand is that usage of swear words will get them nowhere and have a negative impact on their personality. This personality trait will get them in serious problems if they don’t control themselves. Swear words are a sure way to escalate any situation that could have been easily solved by being civil.
Ask them where they are learning such language and warn them to be careful about what kind of friends they are making. Making them stop seeing their friends is never going to work in your favor, it will just make you the worst person in this universe for them. If there is a possibility that they might have learnt this at home, then rectify this situation immediately. Talk to them as friends in this case. Being strict will not work here.
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No regards for hygiene whatsoever
This is a bad habit that will make your child a social piranha. This bad habit will isolate them from social gatherings and leave them alone. Apart from becoming the social anomaly, there are a thousand health issues that will make their life insufferable. Not covering their mouth while sneezing or coughing, picking their nose publically, talking with food in their mouth, not bathing for ages, not brushing their teeth properly, are some of the hygiene issues that are very serious but may seem to be trivial at the time.
Lecture time is appropriate here. A session on hygiene will not go waste here. Making them aware of the problems that may occur due to lack of personal hygiene will go a long way. Make some new out of the box rules that will be interesting as well as fruitful in this cleansing process.
I’ll do it later
If your child is a procrastinator, this is a line you hear on a regular basis. And you very well know that this ‘later’ never comes. This bad habit of your child leaves you doing all the work and them becoming very dependent on you. They never learn to be independent. Dirty clothes, and incomplete homework are just the tip of the laziness iceberg.
This is a habit that will always stand between them and success. As a kid, being lazy makes them lethargic and stagnates their growth. They miss out on many important moments in life thanks to the laziness monster eating up all their curiosity and creativity and the general willingness to do anything.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. To cure this behavior you have to make it clear to them that unless they do their work, it is not going to happen. They will keep thinking that you will always do their work for them if they wait long enough. Don’t let them win this battle of wills, you have to remain strong. Let them not clear their room for as long as they please, let them get punished at school for unfinished homework, let them wear dirty clothes because they did not put them in the laundry basket. They will cave once they understand that work will not happen unless they do it.
The couch potato
If your child spends so much time in front of devices that they seem to become a part of the furniture, then you have got a problem on your hands. Spending hours and hours in front of a screen just watching something hurts their imagination and creativity big time. Their brain is not being used for any work for dangerous amounts of time and it harms their skill development. Not to mention that too much screen time damages their eyesight.
You have to take firm steps to prevent too much screen time. Limit their access to screens for a given amount of time that is decided by you. Reinstate rules that won’t allow them to watch TV until they have done the assigned work.
These are some of the bad habits of children that are annoying as well as serious and need to be dealt with. You should stop these bad habits at a young age and not let them fester so that there are no obstacles in their growth and personality development.