One thing that I love about writing is I get to interview VERY smart people. A few weeks ago I talked with Dr. Jerry Pipes (author/speaker, etc.) and he gave me (err … for the article) great advice.
He said that Christian parents are the worst at coming down hard on their kids, and not giving them enough praise. We point out our demands and make sure they stick to it, but we forget to point out what they do right.
I’m bad about this. All day long it’s, “Did you do you homework page? Did you clean your room? Did you vacuum? etc.” So I’m TRYING to give more praise.
Does it work?
Right after Dr. Pipes told me that, I hung up the phone from my interview and I called my daughter, “Leslie, thank you so much for doing such a great job cleaning the kitchen last night.” (I said this instead of yelling, “Leslie, you still haven’t cleaned up from breakfast yet!”)
She had a friend over, and 30-minutes later when the friend left, I heard her cleaning the kitchen … without being reminded. Then, a little while later she came upstairs and said, “Mom, I cleaned the kitchen AND I noticed the living room was a little messy so I picked it up, too.”
WOW.
So, I’m been trying to ignore some of the stuff I nitpick about and praise their good attitudes, obedience, etc. After all, isn’t that the way we like to be treated, too?
Try it. I dare you.
© Tricia Goyer For more information go to: www.triciagoyer.com
