{"id":2287,"date":"2015-04-13T14:42:48","date_gmt":"2015-04-13T18:42:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/?p=2287"},"modified":"2015-06-05T15:07:13","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T19:07:13","slug":"character-q-a-how-can-i-start-character-training-with-my-toddler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/character-q-a-how-can-i-start-character-training-with-my-toddler\/","title":{"rendered":"Character Q & A: How Can I Start Character Training With My Toddler?"},"content":{"rendered":"

So much talk about toddlers on Character Ink\/Raising Kids With Character, you would think that I have a fifteen month old grandbaby or something! I wanted to re-run some old posts about toddlers to follow up the two Wondering Wednesday podcasts (Part 1<\/a>) (Part 2<\/a>) that I have done over the past couple of weeks about these amazing kids!<\/p>\n

\"Character<\/a><\/p>\n

Question:<\/strong> How can I start some of the character training concepts and habits that you describe with a toddler?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Answer:<\/strong> If you are just starting out with your family and have only a toddler, you have the perfect opportunity to start out right in the character training of your children! I will offer some general tips below, but even more importantly than the \u201cdaily ins and outs\u201d of the ideas I recommend, I suggest that you read Parenting Paradigms at this blog. Even if you take to heart some of the ideas for your little one given in this Q and A, in the end, you will be more successful at character training if you have a firm handle on what you believe about parenting and children.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Toddler Character Training Tips:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> Start adapting the toddler to your schedule and your family\u2019s lifestyle as soon as you can (six to nine months) rather than making your family\u2019s life revolve around the little one\u2019s \u201cwants.\u201d You want to enjoy your toddler within the dynamics that your family already has (with the addition of the joy and wonder that a toddler brings into the family, of course)\u2014as opposed to making everything change to meet unnecessary and often damaging demands that a toddler who is given his own way all the time can often make.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Character<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> Remember that you are setting the stage right now for your child\u2019s \u201ctastes\u201d (follow us on Positive Parenting 365<\/a> or schedule our seminar<\/a> for more details about this important concept).<\/p>\n

a. You can set his tastes for defiance (allowing screaming, throwing, thrashing, and \u201cno\u201d from him) or submission.<\/p>\n

b. You can set his tastes for selfishness and meanness (allowing hitting or other forms of striking, giving in to him when he wants something that someone else has, always making his surroundings whatever he wants (i.e. no bedtime, no sitting in high chair, etc.) due to \u201cfits\u201d or for kindness, gentleness, sweetness, and tenderness.<\/p>\n

c. You can set his tastes for hyper-stimulation and activity (too much running; no scheduled down times; television and videos all the time) or for simple things (books, healthy toys, rest, etc.).<\/p>\n

d. You can set his tastes to lack focus and not enjoy learning (again, too much video, not starting out with books and simple music; an avalanche of cartoons and children\u2019s programming (some of which are developed in two second bits to keep up with short attention spans, thus, causing kids\u2019 attention spans not to lengthen as they should) or a love for learning (via books, strong family learning and discussion times, etc.).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Character<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> Decide ahead of time what your \u201cbehavior absolutes\u201d are.<\/p>\n

a. These are the behaviors or character that you absolutely will not allow in your home. What you allow now will become the \u201cacceptable behaviors\u201d to your child. These seemingly innocent actions include \u201cfibbing,\u201d hitting, running the other way when called, etc.<\/p>\n

b. For us, these \u201cbehavior absolutes\u201d included talking back (no toddler saying \u201cno\u201d without being punished); lying or deceit; temper tantrums; and striking (hitting, pulling hair, throwing things at someone, etc.). Obviously, we wanted our kids to learn to obey and submit to us and to learn the many character qualities that are crucial to living a Christian life, but these four things were things we never wavered on\u2014and things that we made huge deals out of when they were not adhered to by the toddler\/preschooler.<\/p>\n

\"Character<\/a><\/p>\n

4.<\/strong> Start showing your little one the joy of doing what is right. Contentment in your own life, the blessing of work, the joy of loving God and His people\u2014and all of the character that you want your little one to adopt in his life\u2014love, longsuffering, diligence, responsibility, and more will more likely be realized in our kids\u2019 lives when we ourselves embrace and model them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5.<\/strong> Try to establish routines that will aid in his character development\u2014bedtimes, rising times, little \u201cchores\u201d (putting his books in his book basket after you read), nap times, meal times, story time, etc.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more tips on toddlers and babies, click on the links provided below:<\/p>\n

Who makes the decisions for the children\u2014starts here and goes for a few days: Who Makes The Decisions<\/a><\/p>\n

Say what you mean\u2014starts here and goes for two days: Don\u2019t Leave Your Little One at McDonald\u2019s\u2014Say What You Mean, Part ii of ii<\/a><\/p>\n

A post on Storytime<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So much talk about toddlers on Character Ink\/Raising Kids With Character, you would think that I have a fifteen month old grandbaby or something! I wanted to re-run some old posts about toddlers to follow up the two Wondering Wednesday podcasts (Part 1) (Part 2) that I have done over the past couple of weeks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[627,643,62,488,308],"tags":[307,267,310,286],"yoast_head":"\nCharacter Q & A: How Can I Start Character Training With My Toddler? - Character Ink<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/character-q-a-how-can-i-start-character-training-with-my-toddler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Character Q & A: How Can I Start Character Training With My Toddler? - Character Ink\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So much talk about toddlers on Character Ink\/Raising Kids With Character, you would think that I have a fifteen month old grandbaby or something! I wanted to re-run some old posts about toddlers to follow up the two Wondering Wednesday podcasts (Part 1) (Part 2) that I have done over the past couple of weeks […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/character-q-a-how-can-i-start-character-training-with-my-toddler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Character Ink\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/characterinkcompany\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/characterinkcompany?ref=bookmarks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-13T18:42:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-06-05T19:07:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7667\/16949793560_e6743b1e23_c.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Donna\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Donna\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/character-q-a-how-can-i-start-character-training-with-my-toddler\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/character-q-a-how-can-i-start-character-training-with-my-toddler\/\",\"name\":\"Character Q & A: How Can I Start Character Training With My Toddler? - Character Ink\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-13T18:42:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-05T19:07:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/801ef5fa0749f7c8c379e32c743fba64\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/character-q-a-how-can-i-start-character-training-with-my-toddler\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/character-q-a-how-can-i-start-character-training-with-my-toddler\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/character-q-a-how-can-i-start-character-training-with-my-toddler\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Character Q & A: How Can I Start Character Training With My Toddler?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/\",\"name\":\"Character Ink\",\"description\":\"Home of the Language Lady & Cottage Classes!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/801ef5fa0749f7c8c379e32c743fba64\",\"name\":\"Donna\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a34d703c1b470108b3e0674490546317?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a34d703c1b470108b3e0674490546317?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Donna\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/characterinkcompany?ref=bookmarks\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/author\/cqlalady\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Character Q & A: How Can I Start Character Training With My Toddler? - Character Ink","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/character-q-a-how-can-i-start-character-training-with-my-toddler\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Character Q & A: How Can I Start Character Training With My Toddler? - Character Ink","og_description":"So much talk about toddlers on Character Ink\/Raising Kids With Character, you would think that I have a fifteen month old grandbaby or something! I wanted to re-run some old posts about toddlers to follow up the two Wondering Wednesday podcasts (Part 1) (Part 2) that I have done over the past couple of weeks […]","og_url":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/character-q-a-how-can-i-start-character-training-with-my-toddler\/","og_site_name":"Character Ink","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/characterinkcompany\/","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/characterinkcompany?ref=bookmarks","article_published_time":"2015-04-13T18:42:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-06-05T19:07:13+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7667\/16949793560_e6743b1e23_c.jpg"}],"author":"Donna","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Donna","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/character-q-a-how-can-i-start-character-training-with-my-toddler\/","url":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/character-q-a-how-can-i-start-character-training-with-my-toddler\/","name":"Character Q & A: How Can I Start Character Training With My Toddler? - Character Ink","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-04-13T18:42:48+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-05T19:07:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/801ef5fa0749f7c8c379e32c743fba64"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/character-q-a-how-can-i-start-character-training-with-my-toddler\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/character-q-a-how-can-i-start-character-training-with-my-toddler\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/character-q-a-how-can-i-start-character-training-with-my-toddler\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Character Q & A: How Can I Start Character Training With My Toddler?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/","name":"Character Ink","description":"Home of the Language Lady & Cottage Classes!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/801ef5fa0749f7c8c379e32c743fba64","name":"Donna","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a34d703c1b470108b3e0674490546317?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a34d703c1b470108b3e0674490546317?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Donna"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/characterinkcompany?ref=bookmarks"],"url":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/author\/cqlalady\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2287"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2287"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2293,"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2287\/revisions\/2293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}