Pediatrician Mom Has 3 Must-Follow Rules In Her Home — And They Are All For Herself
The rules are worth it for raising well-rounded children.
Yuganov Konstantin / Shutterstock Nobody knows children better than their parents — except for maybe their pediatricians. If you’re both a parent and a pediatrician, your kids hit the jackpot!
One pediatrician mother is sharing the three rules she has in place when it comes to parenting her children, and every parent could take a page from her book.
Here are the 3 must-follow rules that the pediatrician mom has implemented in her household.
Dr. Meghan Martin, also known as Dr. BeachGem10 on social media, shared a video revealing the three rules she has in place for herself and her children and why the rules are effective.
1. No questions
This doesn’t mean that Martin’s children are not allowed to ask her questions. Instead, it means that Martin refrains from asking them questions in which she already expects a certain answer from them. For example, she does not ask her children questions like, “Do you want to brush your teeth?” “Do you want to clean the kitchen?” or “Do you want to put your shoes on?”
Of course, these are all responsibilities that Martin expects her children to do. Therefore, she does not give them a yes or no option.
“If it’s not a question, do not pose it as a question,” she said. “If them answering no is not acceptable, then it is not truly a question.”
Instead, she frames her requests as, “Go brush your teeth,” “Go clean the litter box,” and “Go put your shoes on.”
2. Keep it simple
When Martin instructs her children not to do something, she keeps her explanation short and sweet.
“They do not need a lecture,” she said. “Their attention span is less than yours here on TikTok. Keep it short and sweet.”
Martin is right — childhood development experts agree that the average attention span by age is two to three minutes per year of their age. This means that at best, a 5-year-old has an attention span of about 15 minutes.
So no, they will not listen if you explain to them in detail why they cannot have candy every night for dinner. Instead, just tell them, “Because it’s not good for your body.”
3. No emotions
Before approaching your child with discipline, Martin explained that it is extremely important to get your emotions under control and keep yourself in check as a parent.
“Emotional regulation is not something that kids are born with, it is something that they are taught, and leading by example is really important,” she claimed. “If you yell at your child when they do something wrong, they’re likely to yell at their sibling or friend when they do something wrong.”
While we are all human and bound to get angry with our kids every so often, yelling and getting aggressive with them is an approach that can negatively affect them in the future.
Photo: Julija Sulkovska / Shutterstock
“Parents might start out reasoning, but they’re likely to escalate to something a little bit more, like shouting, touching, firmly dragging their child — even if they’re well-intentioned,” parenting expert Alan Kazdin told The Atlantic.
He claimed that getting harsh with your children when they do something wrong can cause psychological damage that can result in misbehaving at school, lying, stealing, and fighting.
There is nothing wrong with taking a few moments to get your emotions in check before disciplining your children. Martin herself admits that she gives herself a “mom timeout” to take some deep breaths when emotions are running high.
Parenting is hard, so learning from experts is a great resource.
While not every parent may follow the same rules as Martin, most parents have the same end goal: to provide a stable upbringing for their children so they will grow up to be well-rounded and compassionate human beings.
Even during the most difficult days, being a parent is one of the most rewarding roles there is.
“Our kids are worth it,” Martin said. “It’s about progress, not perfection.”
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.