It's all about the Kool-Aid

When I was growing up, my mother always babysat kiddos in our house. Any given day, there was always 5 or 6 extra kids running around.

My mother used to let the kids pick which flavor of Kool-Aid they wanted to drink for lunch. She would lay ALL the flavor packets out and expect them to pick which one. There were packets of every flavor. The kiddos couldn't decide.

Why?

Because there were too many choices. They got overwhelmed and couldn't decide.

Here is a Golden Rule. Give children choices, but...limit the choices to 2 or 3. Too many choices leads to chaos and confusion.

It's like you walking into Target and someone says, "pick one thing." Uh, that's too hard. Too many choices!

If you limit choices to 2 or 3 things, I promise it will be better. When you offer a choice of peanut butter or turkey, the child isn't overwhelmed by too many choices and feels empowered that he made a choice for himself.

Note: I have nothing against Kool-Aid. I love it! It was just my example. Photo credit: Pinterest.

Have a fun and playful day
Mel