I have two beautiful, smart and full of life little girls! They are always testing the waters and pushing the limits when it comes to the rules and doing things they know can get them in trouble. Don’t get me wrong, they are very good and well behaved most of the time but they like to have fun and explore so that gets them in trouble. Over the summer we had slipped into a very bad routine where we would have to ask them 5 times to brush their teeth before they would listen or repeat ourselves over and over again when it was time for them to do their chores. They were not listening and doing whatever they wanted to do. I was spending so much time trying to catch them doing something wrong or critiquing the “bad” behavior and was at a breaking point. Something had to change, and it did, I tried something else and it is working much better for us!
Catch Them Being GOOD
I recently discovered the Boys Town Email Series which is several FREE emails to help you with your parenting challenges. Each series consists of weekly emails that run 4-6 weeks and discuss a specific parenting issue, include a teaching activity and a relevant social skill. Boys Town is backed by 100 years of research and experience and their content is developed by psychiatrists, psychologists and parenting experts, so I felt confident in their information, tips and advice. There are many topics to pick from so I picked the Parenting Principles series and the topics hit home right away with the first one being “Offering Effective Praise.”
Parenting Techniques that Work
This series taught me to look for and identify good behavior frequently and consistently. Wow, I never thought of that! I mean I did a little bit but not frequently and consistently. I noticed when I told them “Thank you so much for helping Mommy put away the dishes, it really helps me” or “I like how you are being so nice to your sister, it makes me so happy” that they started going out of their way to do NICE and appropriate things to get more praise. Boys Town suggests in their email series that you praise your child four times for every one time you correct him/her.
Boys Town Email Series
Parenting is hard and sometimes we just don’t have all the answers! It is awesome to know that there is help out there when we need it! Boys Town email series has a lot of tips at your fingertips on important topics such as potty training, toddler tantrum, teen disciple, success in school, sleep issues, kids and technology and so much more! I am going to spend a lot more time trying to catch my girls being good from now on that’s for sure!
Check it out here and sign up for your free email series and build up your parenting tool box! Let me know what you think of it! It takes a village, that’s for sure! #Parentingwin
Blessings!
Great tips. Sounds like that email series is an awesome parenting resource.
Adree | The Keele Deal recently posted…Train Gift Guide
Yes! There’s always so much focus on the bad, need to switch that mindset around.
The Boys Town email series sounds awesome! This is such a great behavioral principal!
I need to start doing this especially after a Monday like today! Thank you for this great tip. 🙂
xo, Nicole
This is SO true. I’ve grown accustomed to just snapping at my four year old and assuming he’s being bad, but he’s not.
I love this important switch in perspective! What a great resource!!
Patricia recently posted…Fall-ish Fashion With Lace!
Aw, I love this idea. Too often we forget praise but never forget discipline.
Katie @ Book Ink Reviews recently posted…Booking Your Weekend
Using effective praise has been really helpful in encouraging good behavior in my kids, too. The key for me to to make it really specific so they know exactly what behavior I want them to repeat…e.g.-“You shared your car with your brother. Thank you! That makes him so happy.” Instead of “You were so nice.”
I love this! We worked on some behavior issues this summer using a similar principles. I made a kindness jar for my six year old and a listening jar for my three year old. Each time I caught them being kind or listening, they got a cotton ball in their jar. When the jar was filled up, they would get a prize. This helped all of us focus on the positive. They ended up being encouraged and I stopped feeling like a horrible mom for always correcting and saying no, etc.
This couldn’t have come at a better time… literally was just talking about having to ask to brush their teeth five times! I need this reminder, thank you!