Friday, March 18, 2011

Remember to Praise

Kids are frustrating. They get into mayhem so quickly and just as quickly your temper may rise along with your voice (I admit mine does, I can be a yeller.).

One thing that may help with this is to look for the positives that your child is doing. "AJ" is working on getting better at cleaning up her toys when done. She loves to sing the clean up song.

Praise isn't always a natural thing or feeling to share. Look for the good things your child is doing (your spouse too), and point those out.

Praise yourself too for doing good. This will help teach your child this skill.  It is not conceited to give yourself praise (even outloud) for a job well done.

Only piece of advice I would give here is to remember not to make the praise sound like a condition of your love. Instead of saying "Johnny, I love it when you clean your room." Sounded like praise but it also attached your love to him having a clean room.  Say it more like "I like how you cleaned your room, good job."

Work not to attach you love to the praise statement. Listen to your wording when you talk (I admit I need to remember that too.)

Sometimes I think these lessons are made for me to learn in my head when I share them with others, just like my children's sermons are more for me than the church sometimes...   Happy Parenting

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