Getting my point across to a child

After A finished his homework, he asked to go outside and play with some neighborhood children. I said fine, and he put on his jacket and raced outside. He came back a short time later, grabbed some gloves because his hands were cold and his scooter. Just as I was about to call him in for dinner, I saw him riding his scooter up the driveway towards the garage. There was another child, C, trailing behind A. I opened the backdoor and A asked if they could play the Wii. I said sure. They came inside and I set the Wii up for them.

They decided to play Super Smash Brothers Brawl. That is a game that I do not understand. When you are setting up the game, there are a bunch of characters in squares on the screen. Each player can select whichever character they want. A picked his player and it was C's turn to pick. He was not sure which to pick and had some questions. When he tried to show A which one he had questions about, C stood up, went over to the TV and touched the screen. I asked C very nicely to refrain from touching the screen. (I did not use the word "refrain" with C) I believe I said, "please do not touch the TV". Simple and straight forward. Easy to understand. A's little sister A2, who is 3, understood.

C picked his player and they played their game. When it was time for the next game, C again stood up, walked over to the TV, and touched the screen. I again asked him very nicely to stop touching the TV. His response "why?" Because I said so. He walked toward the TV again. I said, "C, please to not touch the TV." He said, "What will happen?" I said, "It does not matter what will happen, please do not touch the TV." At this point, I was starting to become a little annoyed. I was trying not to raise my voice. Mainly because it was a nice day outside, and the windows of the house were open. Again, he said, "Why not? What will happen if I touch the TV?" That was it for me. I said, "If you touch the TV again, you will not play the Wii at this house again". Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. That got my point across. C sat down and started to use his words to ask A what he wanted to know. Sometimes you have to re-phrase things with children. If one way does not work, try something a little different.

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