Don't say Don't!

Don't say Don't!

When I was 13, my mom made me take a babysitters class through the Red Cross.  The only thing I remember from that class was the instructor telling us never say "Don't..." to a child.  Her reasoning was because the child will always do what you ask them not to.  We were taught to never say "Dont hit your sister!" but say "Instead of hitting your sister, why don't we play a game."   

Even with the class, I was pretty much the worst babysitter ever.  I remember turning all the clocks ahead to trick the kids into going to bed earlier, eating people's food, being on their phone (do you remember landlines?) for hours talking to friends and boys.  And the people always asked me back... really???  I look back at my VERY VERY immature 13 year old self and would never in a million years hire me to watch my children.  

But now as a parent, I hear that babysitting instructor's voice saying "don't say don't".  I start many sentences with "don't" around here and I always wander if I phrased it differently, my kids might actually listen and obey.  But usually when I'm in the heat of the moment, I can't think of a phrase that would suffice... so I almost always start with "don't!"  

Here are some phrases in parenting that I thought I would never say, and some ways I could prase it better.  Thank you Red Cross :)

I hope this brings laughter to your day:

"Don't lick your sister!" vs. "Instead of licking your sister, you should lick the floor clean so I don't have to mop it later."

"Don't touch your poop!" vs.  "Instead of  touching your poop, you should go next door and rid the neighbor's yard of dog poop"

"Don't put your fingers in the fan"  vs. "Instead of putting your fingers near the fan, lets use your hands to give mom a back massage"

"Don't throw the DVD... it's not a frisbee" vs. "Instead of throwing the DVD, throw the ball outside   so I can have some quiet time"

"Don't jump off of the couch... chair... bed... pew... dresser...cart..."  vs.  "Instead of jumping off of dangerous objects, lets use your legs to run around the block to release all your energy"

Have a great Tuesday :)