Good Positive Parenting Tip

I always try new techniques in trying to be a good parent. In trying to stay with my positive parenting methods, I have been using a reward for good behavior. I recently bought two "Ben 10" action figures and showed them to my 6 year old son. I did not give them too him, I only showed it to him. I told him, that if he is good, I will give it to him. That meant he had to listen, help Mom and Dad, eat his food, etc… After a day or two of him being good, I gave him the first one.

I kept the second, the one he wanted most, for later. The second would be a bit more difficult for him to acquire. He has year end tests coming up next week, so I gave him a test of my own; Math. I told him if he gets them all correct I would give him the second toy. Long story short, he did not do that good. I was disappointed, and so was he when I told him that I would not give him the toy because he did not do well on the test. He began to cry.

I guess that doesn't really seem like positive parenting, but I think it is. More importantly I think it is reality. I took the opportunity to explain to him that in life, if you work hard, and you do good, you will have toys. But if you do not do good, and make too many mistakes you will have no toys. I think this is a simple explanation, and a true one, that he is closely feeling the reality of.

And with the pain being minimal, but allowing him to learn an important lesson in life, I think that shows that it is positive parenting. It was hard not to give him the toy when I saw him crying, but had I given it to him after he did bad on the test, I feel I would have not taught him anything. So maybe if he does well on his test review tomorrow, I will give him the toy then. We will see….


This article, along with other tips and motivation for living a healthy lifestyle can be found at the Sabaidi Health Blog