45 Phrases to Help You Improve Communication With Your Child

As we all know, the most important and necessary tools for developing our children’s education are the words we use during our communication with them . As human beings, we often tend to get carried away by our emotions. This ends up causing us to say and do things that are damaging and do not really contribute anything positive to our child’s proper development.

In light of this, I would love to propose replacing some of the most common negative expressions we generally use, with more positive and practical ones. As you begin to use them, I suggest paying attention to how your parenting experience changes according to the words you use with your child.

Moreover, the use of these phrases in more mature relationships can help us to improve their quality immensely, thus becoming an indispensable resource.

• “Stop screaming!” – Speak softly
• Don’t eat so quickly! – Chew your food well
• You made a mess again… – Please clean up your room
• How long do I have to wait on you? – It’s time to go; say goodbye
• Where do you think you’re going? – Get down from there, please
• You’re going to fall down – Be careful
• You’re going to be sorry! – Think about the consequences
• You’re going to slip and fall – Watch your step
• You’re going to get wet! – Use the umbrella / put on your boots
• Don’t run – Go slower
• Don’t run off! – You’re in plenty of time
• I’m talking to you! – Please listen to me 
• Finish it already! – You must  finish this, there’s no time left  
• How many times do I have to tell you? – Please do what I’m asking of you
• I don’t even know how to talk to you anymore! – Let’s find a solution that we are both okay with
• Are you deaf? – Listen to me, please
• Are you blind? – Please pay more attention
• Are you not embarrassed of yourself? – Think about what you did
• Don’t talk to me like that! – In this family, we don’t speak to each other that way
• I told you so! – Learn from this and avoid making the same mistake, again
• You can’t do it! – Try; if you don’t try, you will never know
• I don’t know! – Let’s think this through together
• I don’t understand you! – What do you mean?
• You’re wrong! – That’s your opinion
• I already said no! – I’ve told you my opinion, and it’s not changing
• Because I said so! – Because the decision was made by your parents

• No sweets! – We only eat sweets for dessert 
• If only you knew how sick of this I already am! – I don’t want to talk about this right now; let’s chat after dinner
• Do you have any idea what time it is? – It’s late; it’s time to go to bed.
• And you don’t think I’m tired? – I understand, we’re all tired
• You’ll see – just wait! – I am very disappointed, and right now I could say or do something that we will both regret later
• Stop getting in my way! – Do whatever you have to do. When I’m unoccupied, we will do something interesting together
• Are you crazy? – I am very surprised with you, and I do not like your actions
• That’s much too expensive! – We have other expenses planned for today
• Turn off the TV! – The TV is getting overheated; it’s time for you to take a break
• Do your homework! – Do your homework first, and then you can go play
• When I was a kid, I wasn’t that way – It’s okay to make mistakes, but the most important thing is to learn from your mistakes and avoid repeating them
• When I was a child, these things didn’t even exist – I would have been grateful to have a toy like this when I was a child
• Stop crying over such silly things! – I understand that this is very important to you; let’s think about what can be done about it
• Just calm down! – If you calm down, we can find a solution 
• Watch where you’re going! – Be careful and watch where you walk
• Nobody will want to be your friend! – Who would you like to be friends with?
• You won’t want to get sick! – If you get sick, you’ll have to stay in the house all day, and you’ll miss out on a lot of fun things
• What, don’t you understand? / What, don’t you get it? – What are you having trouble understanding?
• You are completely ungrateful! – We work hard so that you can have everything you need, so please don’t disappoint us

“The wonderful thing about learning something is that nobody can take it away from us.”
-B. B. King