Parenting Coach Says Stop Counting To 3. Try This Instead To Get Kids To Listen

<div><img src="https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/69035ae3230000d039be1dd1.jpg?ops=scalefit_630_noupscale" alt="" data-caption="" data-credit-link-back="" data-credit="Thanasis Zovoilis via Getty Images" /></div><div class="content-list-component text"><p>When you’re <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/trying-to-get-out-the-door-with-kids_uk_68e646c5e4b038265cc8d3fc">trying to get kids out of the door</a> early in the morning, or to put a toy back on the shelf in the supermarket, you might find yourself resorting to all kinds of wacky strategies to move them along a bit. </p><p>For some, especially those whose parents used it on them, this might mean using the ‘counting to 3’ method – which is pretty much what it says on the tin. You start counting to three in the hope that before, or at least by the time, you’ve reached the last number, your kids will have done what you asked of them. </p><p>And if they don’t, well, there are usually consequences of some sort.</p><p>Like most parents who find themselves resorting to this tactic, you probably reach two and three-quarters, thinking: <em>this isn’t working. Surely there has to be a better way!?</em></p><p>And according to dad-of-four and <a href="https://mikeonparenting.com/meet-mike/#mike" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">parenting coach Mike Wallach</a>, there is. </p><h2><strong>Why ‘counting to three’ doesn’t necessarily work</strong></h2><p>Per <a href="https://www.positiveparentingsolutions.com/the-problem-with-counting-1-2-3/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Positive Parenting Solutions,</a> there are a few reasons why counting to three isn’t really going to help us, or our kids, in the long