Friday, March 21, 2008

1....2....3!

I apologize in advance if you're a fan of this method, but one of my pet peeves is when parents do the count down with their children. I'm sure you've seen it. Maybe you even use it. Little Johnny starts to misbehave. The parent responds with something like this.

Parent - "Little Johnny, if you don't stop (fill_in_the_blank) you're going to get into big trouble.

Little Johnny - Keeps on doing what he was doing.

Parent (a little more forceful this time) - "Little Johnny, I said if you don't stop (fill_in_the_blank) you're going to get into BIG trouble.

Little Johnny - Keeps on doing what he was doing.

Parent (even more forceful this time) - "Little Johnny, I'll give you to the count of three and if you don’t stop (fill_in_the_blank) you're going to get into BIG trouble.

Little Johnny - Keeps on doing what he was doing.

Parent (with firm voice) - 1....2.....2 1/2.....3!

Little Johnny - Starts to pay attention to his parent.

And so it goes. During the whole time all Little Johnny hears is, "blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, 3"

That's because the parents have taught their children via the counting game is that they aren't serious until they get to 3. Everything they say up until that point is meaningless, and the children know it.

Children are smart. They learn quickly and know where their boundaries are. Say what you mean and mean what you say. And, please, don’t count!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Get on your bike... 1...2... I said, get on your bike now.... 1...2...3