A useful parenting tool
Give your voice and your kids a break
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The tsk. This may be a non-American thing but it’s worth adopting. My husband cannot recall ever hearing it. I don’t hear other American parents using it, but my Egyptian father and step-mother deployed it to good effect. It saves you having to constantly be saying No — and saves your children from the bad habit of tuning your voice out.
There’s something visceral about the response. Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! real quick. (To know what this sounds like, listen to the audio!*)
I even use it with my cat! She’s not allowed to come inside**. I trained her by giving her a spritz of water when she tried to get in and also tsk-ing. Now she responds just to the tsk.
When your little one is about to touch something or go somewhere or you can tell he’s even thinking of something naughty, just tsk at him. Sometimes you’re in a situation where you can’t actually say something, but even one low tsk will let that little (or big — works with teens too) miscreant know that you are on to him and he needs to stop.
Later, it’s your even moral disapproval, without any words necessary, yet conveying so much. That tsk tsk tsk (with a sad shake of the head) carried the meaning of volumes into my consciousness and to my conscience.
*By the way, my audio is never AI. It’s all me! Sorry for my recovering voice…
**My husband is super allergic to cats, but don’t worry, we don’t have road frontage, she’s comfy out there, and she keeps the mice down.
Be happy at home! As with everything here at the SFH, the best thing is for you to take my ideas, which come from my experience of escaping feminism to enjoy the gift of 46 years of marriage, seven children, and more than a score of grandchildren, and apply them to your situation with discernment, prudence, and confidence — and a sense of humor!
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For the longer version of this Substack, and much more on such topics:
My 3-volume book on Order and Wonder in Family Life:
I tried this with my 17 month old today. He has only ever heard this sound while reading Caps for Sale and he proceeded to shake his finger and say tsk tsk back at me, then laughed and continued with his shenanigans. Lol!