‘Tis the season of gratitude!
Many of us find ourselves reflecting on what we are grateful for at this time of year…freedom, family, friends, shelter, food, faith, health, love, etc.
Each year, I set the intention to show my gratitude and be mindful of that for which I am grateful throughout the year, not just during the month when we celebrate Thanksgiving. And each year, I reflect on how this practice has increased over the years and become a regular part of my daily routine, of who I am, how I interact with others, how I teach my children, how I lead Behave Your Best, and how I have designed Behave Your Best to deliver the BEST service possible to parenting trendsetters JUST.LIKE.YOU!
This month, all of our interactions with YOU will be in celebration of the theme of GRATITUDE! My #MondayMessage video posts on Facebook will be highlighting what we are thankful for at Behave Your Best. As parents, we can fall into a pattern of responding to our child’s unwanted behavior and when they are engaged in positive behavior we sort of leave them alone, so as not to ‘poke the bear’. Pay attention to when you are interacting with your child. Do you find yourself trying to get as much as possible done when they are playing nicely and not otherwise disrupting, and react to put out a “fire” of unwanted behavior, resume your tasks when the “fire” is out, only to be getting your extinguisher again before you know it? This could be terribly inefficient for you while also being quite efficient for your child.
When it comes to our children, we often take their positive behavior for granted. After they have demonstrated the have the capacity to perform a certain skill or routine, we expect that they’ll perform that skill 100% of the time, without exception. How many new skills do you learn that you perform perfectly every time you are expected to do so? This month, I challenge you to be grateful that your child performs certain expectations of yours 80-100% of the time.
Don’t get me wrong, we are not recommending that you praise or otherwise provide reinforcement to children for every little thing they do correctly, every time they do it. We teach parents to focus on one or two new skills at a time. These skills are designed to prevent or replace unwanted behavior. After the child has learned the replacement behavior and is no longer showing the pattern of unwanted behavior, we recommend parents continue to acknowledge the child’s use of the replacement behavior sometimes to promote maintenance of the new skill.
We want to hear form you! What about your child’s behavior have you possibly been taking for granted?
Thank you, parenting trendsetters, for receiving Behave Your Best and our message! Thank you for your support and for sharing Behave Your Best with others!
My best,
Jamie Waldvogel, Founder/Owner
The material contained herein is for informational purposes only, and is not intended to create or constitute a behavioral consultation relationship between Behave Your Best, LLC and the reader. The information contained herein is not offered as behavioral consultation and should not be construed as behavioral consultation.