What is the best way to turn a child's frown upside down?

I have a 2nd interview tomorrow w/ Payless Shoe Source and one of my interview questions is going to be..





%26#039; A child needs his foot measured but he/she is very cranky, crying, or refuses... how would you go about measuring his/her foot?%26#039;





Ivehad experience w/ children and pyschology... i do know that i should get on their eye level when talking with them. What would be a creative answer/ideas?? what would YOU say to the child/do/act??





Please help!!

What is the best way to turn a child%26#039;s frown upside down?
Hey, sweetie, what%26#039;s your name?


Are you looking forward to getting some new shoes today, that means that you%26#039;re going to be a big boy/girl...are you a big boy/girl now? Would you like to help me see how big your foot is? Let%26#039;s measure my hand first, and see if your foot is bigger than it...that%26#039;s a great job!


You%26#039;re such a good helper...hey, mom, do you think that I could borrow your son/daughter to help me measure other children%26#039;s feet, because s/he is SO good at it!
Reply:You could suggest that the child%26#039;s mother or father (or whoever brought them in) measure the child%26#039;s foot, since they would probably be more likely to allow them to do it than a stranger.


You could also ask them for suggestions, since no one knows a child like their parent. It might also be a good idea to keep things like balloons, or small, cheap toys on hand to bribe children with. Those things seem to work quite well with calming children down, and it%26#039;s an inexpensive gift that they can keep if they get attached to it. Candy (sugar-free might be a good suggestion) might also work too.


Kids love humor, too, so maybe you could try making faces at them, or being silly.


You might also be able to ask the parent or guardian what size shoe they wear, and ask if they%26#039;re coming in because they outgrew them, then go a size or two up until you find a good fit.
Reply:Well, im assuming they have those metal things the kids put their foot in, so i would probably act like it was something extra special. Like %26quot;Whoa, you get to have your foot measured? Thats only for super special kids, are you sure youre up for it? Its super important, etc etc%26quot; This tactic always works on my son.
Reply:it has so much to do with how old the child is. is the child scared? does the child not know you and therefore doesn%26#039;t feel comfortable? is the child afraid of the whole foot measruing idea? is he child just tired? why is the child uncooperative? you need to work out some various scenarios with these questions in mind and then come up with answers for how you%26#039;d deal with different ones. Sometimes a kid just needs 30 seconds of eye contact with you in order to feel comfortable. tell them your name. ask them their name.
Reply:give them something fun to play with, maybe a personal special employee object that won%26#039;t be able to injure him or break. or show him how to measure your foot and then ask him to measure his own
Reply:Talk in a nice calm voice, keep your temper and patience, TRY and calm her down, and then just keep measuring. If she won%26#039;t let you, don%26#039;t measure her foot and wait for her parent to deal with her, and THEN if all works out, measure her foot.
Reply:It depends on the age for sure, if you%26#039;re talking a toddler you can do the whole, %26quot;I%26#039;m gonna get your toes and tickle hir or her feet%26quot; A slightly older child you might be able to say, hey I need help measuring my foot, can you help me? Let the child help you then you help him.





The best answer though I think is, %26quot;children are drawn to me, I have a natural gift to make them happy and laugh so I don%26#039;t even think that would be a concern!%26quot;





Be confident in your interview, I KNOW for a fact that Payless needs you more than you need them...at least have that attitude, confidence alone will win you the job!





Good luck!!



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