At your wit’s end and ready to take away a toy or privilege? Taking things away is an effective discipline strategy…sometimes. To understand when to take away a toy, it’s necessary to first talk about when it is NOT that effective. The answer lies in equal parts behavior science and cognitive development, and operator error. …
When it comes to parenting, the tools you choose to implement can mean the difference between a melt-down and a successful parenting moment. Rewards that work are key…as you’ll see in the example below: I could see his little body getting rigid and his eyes were dropping. A stand-off was imminent, and I had no…
I try not to bring up the trauma of the Jump Park Fiasco of 2019, but I learned some pretty great lessons about what happens when you think you have a great reward to encourage behavior, but it ends up not working AT ALL, so I am willing to share my trauma in hopes that…
When should you give in to your kids? Ever? Never? Here’s the scenario: It’s five minutes past the drop-dead moment for getting in the car and getting everyone to the right place at the right time. I’m running on fumes fueled by the insanity of needing to bring a show-and-tell item that starts with the…
Nobody likes bribery. We don’t like it in our government and we don’t like it in our parenting. Bribing your kids feels icky to think about. We just want our kids to behave out of the goodness of their hearts, right? Shouldn’t they simply WANT to behave? (Excuse me while I laugh hysterically.) I think…
Punishment is such a dirty word. I feel dirty about it. It’s negative and icky and sinks like a sick pit in my stomach when I think about it. And when I have used it with my children, it has worked in the moment, but has long term consequences. In behavioral terms, though, punishment is…