Welcome to the Simply Charlotte Mason podcast. I'm Sonia Schaefer. Today we have two more habit training questions to answer.

We've already discussed how habit training works, how to think of appropriate consequences and use them effectively,

how to do habit training with multiple children, with older children, with children who have special challenges,

what to do about bad habits, and much more.

If you missed any of those episodes, check the show notes for a link.

Today, our first question is, how would you know if you're putting too much pressure

on your child in the process of habit

training?

That's tricky because sometimes in habit training you have to be the bad guy in your child's

eyes, especially when it comes to consequences.

Plus, you have to be consistent.

You can't expect Joey to take out the trash this time, but not next time.

And those aren't usually popular positions to take.

Your child probably isn't going to give you a hug today and say, thanks so much for

standing firm and helping me to grow in self-control or in obedience or in orderliness.

But I think this question draws an important distinction. You need to stand firm and expecting

your child to grow, but you must be careful not to attack or pressure your child to grow faster than he's

ready to. How do you know the difference? Well, I think that there are some warning flags that might

signal when you might have crossed the line into pressuring rather than encouraging growth. Let me give you four that

came to my mind. You'll probably think of others too. First, if you have become more concerned

about your child's outward appearance than about his heart, you may have crossed the line. Most of the time, the main

way you can judge whether a habit is taking root is by watching what your child does, his behavior.

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