Just a little bit

I overheard a parent talking the other day in short hand to a child. It was the brevity she needed to speak quickly, but too dense and distracting for the child to understand. Remember to use as little language as possible when directing a child. Otherwise they will move into their version of 'yada, yada, yada' which includes turning off the sentences they don't hear because they are processing the first parts of your words.

And when you are being brief, use language that is meaningful to them. Saying... 'get down from that right now or you're going to get hurt' is useless to a child.
They have to figure out:

 'get' down' --- lost in the thought of how that will happen-- and then they have to go to  'from that'... impossible. --- which 'what' does that adult mean? The 'what I'm standing on? Another 'what I haven't seen?' This isn't the 'what' I want to get down from so they must mean something else."..

Then...

 'right now'. -- How immediate can 'right now' be? Do you mean, my kind of 'right now' as a child? or do you mean your kind of 'right now' which I don't like because I don't know why and what's going to come after so I never like to respond to 'right now' especially if you use that big firm tone?

"Or you'll get hurt!"--- no way, not going to happen, don't care if it does, forgot the last time so don't have a concern about getting hurt."

See.... and then you're going to repeat it like they didn't hear it ,right?

Go short... just a little bit... wait for absorption... little bit more. Reflect, ...wait.... Oh! I get it!  You want me to move from up high to down low because you think it's not safe up here!

Try this.... "Move your feet to the ground and bring your hands down too." Then AFTER they're down..."I asked you to do that because it didn't feel safe to me watching you be that high"

Much better...
Love,
Deborah