The one min mother

Hubby bought me a wonderful small book called the one minute mother and it really can be summarised into 3 principles:

1. 1 min goal setting (so that children know what they are aiming for)
2. 1 min praising (where you are effusive in your praise for the child)
3. 1 min reprimand (where you tell the child IMMEDIATELY how you feel when they've done wrong and then straight away remind them how much you love them and how you KNOW they can do better than this)

Very simple rules for parenting but so easy to forget to do.

I realise that i use these 3 rules very liberally and unconsciously as a teacher but forget to do so as a parent...and i really don't know why. Perhaps it is because we see our children much more often and the chances of us going ballistic on them and forgetting to praise is high. The one thing that struck me was "catch your child doing right". most of us, me defintely, are experts in catching our children doing wrong. "Don't climb that..sit down now...stop...that was naughty...etc".

So these ferw weeks, I've been trying to practice the principle of "catching maeve do something right". the premise is, if they get praised often enough for doing the right things, the bad behaviour naturally reduces in time. And by golly, it is true! I've caught maeve doing the most mundane "right" things, eg. sharing with a neighbour, smiling sweetly, being polite, helping me wash dishes, setting the table, NOT throwing a tantrum before school, NOT demanding an extra sweet...the list is endless, but 2 things happened. i realise what a darling i have in her, that she's more good than bad, and it DID reduce bad behaviour! coz bad behaviour didn't get any attention, even negative attention!

Next, I'll experiment with 1 minute goal setting, although I'm not sure how to do so with a toddler. will have to try. the first goal i need to set together with her is "pick up your toys after playing without prompting". Will report on progress!