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Secretss t1_j6fso6n wrote

I’ve learned that people respond a lot better to explanations than to instructions. If they had been given a reason to avoid that empty car “this car stinks!” or “drunk dude shat his pants in there” they may have listened better than being told what to do “don’t go in there” or “you don’t want this”.

Giving the reason nips 2 things in the bud straight away: makes it not an instruction, and removes the curiousity.

Tangential to this, more parents should learn to start providing reasonings/explanations behind their directives.

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DMala t1_j6ge21p wrote

I don’t disagree with the parenting thing, but it has a finite amount of value. Toddlers and young children are inherently illogical and irrational creatures. It’s great to explain why you want to them to do something, but you have to know when to put your foot down and pull rank. Listening to a grown-ass person arguing with a toddler and losing is pretty sad.

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Ghostglitch07 t1_j6ggafr wrote

Personally I got "because I said so" reasons up until I moved out. Sure, giving the reason isn't always the way to go with a young child, but by the time they are a preteen reasons are invaluable. Shows some amount of respect for them as an individual, makes arguments less likely, and provides actual knowledge they can use later rather than just "ive been doing my laundry this way for fifty years and I still don't know why"

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