Natural Consequences vs. Imposed Consequences

In this episode of The 3D Parent Podcast, I’m discussing the difference between natural and imposed consequences and how they affect our children’s behavior. All parents want their children to grow into true maturity and take responsibility for their actions. The traditional methods of issuing rewards and punishments may seem to work, but it ultimately backfires. In the episode, I’ll talk about how to use natural consequences and our relationship with our child to help them grow and learn from mistakes. 

Points we discuss include:

• The difference between natural and imposed consequences
• The problem with imposed consequences
• Using natural consequences to our advantage
• How our connection with children influences their behavior

I hope you'll think a little bit more about the use of both natural and imposed consequences and how they affect your children. When your children make a mistake, I invite you to take a step back and get to the reason why the mistake was made in the first place. Instead of jumping right into issuing an imposed consequence, take a step back and see if you could figure out the root of the behavior. Perhaps nature can teach the lesson through a natural consequence, and you can see if you can help your children come up with their own solution in a way to make things right in the future.