Are you smarter than your kid?

As a parent, to realize that the child outsmarted them can be painful and irritating. It is tempting to feel contempt for the child for making the parent look the fool.

Here's a way to look at the situation differently. As a parent you want to affirm your child as often as possible, show them you are pleased with them and enforce compliance. This tactic will accomplish all three objectives.

A loophole is like a "get out of jail" card in Monopoly. Once you use it, you can't use it again for the rest of the game. As soon as the child figures out the loophole and shares it with you, it can't be used again. This gives you the opportunity to praise your child for their intelligence while closing the loophole in the future.

I worked with a family who had many friends of their children over at their house. They lacked the ability to monitor how many children were in the house. I worked with the parents to set limits on how many children could be over at a time.

The intervention was a success so they decided to plan a date night for the parents. As the day arrived they talked to the children about no one being in the house while they were gone. When the parents got home, 25 children were in the front yard...BUT no one was in the house! The children had found a loophole, but they were also in compliance! The parents were able to praise their children, while at the same time including the property line the next time, when enforcing expectations.

Loopholes can  not only be closed when they are realized, but they also offer a great opportunity to praise your child. And I don't know a child out there who doesn't like to hear that they may be smarter than their parent, whether that is true or not.