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Home › Articles › Development › The Power of Choice

The Power of Choice

An Excerpt

By Elizabeth Pantley

Pages:  1  2  

You should offer choices based on your child's age and your intent. A toddler can handle two choices, a grade-school child three or four. A teenager can be given general guidelines. Offer choices such that you would be happy with whatever option your child chooses. Otherwise, you're not being fair. For example, a parent might say, "Either eat your peas or go to your room" but when the child gets up off his chair, the parent yells, "Sit down and eat your dinner, young man!" (So that wasn't really a choice, was it?)

Here are some ways in which you can use choice:

  • Do you want to wear your Big Bird pajamas or your Mickey Mouse pajamas?
  • What pair of shorts would you like to wear today?
  • Do you want to do your homework at the kitchen table or the desk?
  • Would you rather stop at the gas station or give me the money to fill the tank?
  • Do you want to wear your coat, carry it or put on a sweatshirt?
    • <
  • Would you prefer to let the dog out in the yard or take him for a walk?
  • Do you want to run up to bed or hop like a bunny?
  • What do you want to do first, take out the trash or dry the dishes?
  • Do you want to watch five more minutes of TV or ten?
  • Will you do your homework now, after dinner or shall I wake you at six tomorrow?
    •

If your child is reluctant to choose from the options that you offer, then simply ask, "Would you like to choose or shall I choose for you?"


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