What To Say When You Parent Series: “How’s it going with ________?” -

“How’s it going with ________?” (Teeth, shoes, pyjamas, tidying up, getting dressed?)

This is another line that I find myself saying to my kids often. It’ll be towards the end of the day and it’s time to put on pyjamas...and sometimes they’ll go and do it. Other times, I may need to be help them along by reminding them as they’ll get distracted.

So in these instances, I’ll remind by asking “how’s it going with pyjamas?” It’s a prompt in that it reminds them, keeps me away from nagging mode (I can go there!), and if they’re already on it and I can’t see, it’s something that hopefully doesn’t land as encroaching. It’s an enquiry and non-presumptuous and they‘ll simply answer “I’m doing them” (or something like that 🙂) if they’re already on it.

Same at tidy-up time towards the end of the day, I’m often washing up whilst my children tidy up their toys and other stuff they’ve used in the day. So I’ll say ‘how’s it going with tidying up?’ They'll sometimes update me with how it’s going “we’ve done this and this and there’s this to go” or sometimes they’ll say something like ‘I forgot; I’ll do it now”. And then get on it.

Also, with shoes and socks when we’re leaving. Often, I use this line if I’m doing something else or if I’m another room and we’re trying to get to an outcome (get pyjamas on, get teeth brushed, tidy up the bedroom, leave the house).

So ‘how’s it going to with ________?” works as a check-in and/or a prompt - and it’s non-judgmental.

And as always, remember as you parent, that it's not practice makes perfect, it's practice makes progress <3