You have heard the saying "just use reverse psychology" haven't you? It is something just evil psychologists use or does it really work? And the answer is it works. At least for children from the age of about two and a half to about six.
So how do I know this? The experiment I used is easy. Simply ask your child in this age range to NOT kiss you and you will see that they just cant resist. They will run to you as fast as their half size legs will carry and give you more kisses than you thought possible. It helps to yell as softly as possible, as if in pain, "No No don't kiss me" and to fall to the floor as if they have caused great pain to you in the process. And what is most entertaining, once you have tried this on them and they have experienced the affect they have on you it takes even less prompting the next time you exclaim, "What ever you do... and I mean it... DON'T KISS ME!"
Try this experiment and let me know what happens.
Billy is in the middle of this phase for sure. While visiting my in laws this weekend, he was hardly eating anything due to the excitement. I literally had to tell him, "No, you can't have that banana," and "No banana for Billy" after every bite to get him to eat the entire thing. Of course, he made a huge production of it, lying in the middle of the family room floor in front of all the adults, like he was a decadent Roman senator, as he ate it. SIGH. To get him to brush his teeth we do the same thing. We tell him "No teeth brushing for Billy," and like magic, he stops telling us "No" and starts saying, "Yes brush teeth!"
ReplyDeleteI got an email from a freind who has managed to get her daughter to eat more veggies that ever before with the same tactic. "What ever you do... Don't eat your veggies". Strange but this really works. The most important aspect of this tactic is you give the control back to the child which they so desperatly want. And why is that? Well, they want to be like you, the parent, of course.
ReplyDeleteDoes not work for us. Our son comes from a strong-willed family!!
ReplyDeleteAnd a great family at that!
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