Stephen, I enjoyed reading your finished post (we met at a wine bar where your college roommate was playing music in Charleston last Saturday).
I might add a small tip from my work: teaching kids (and adults for that matter) Gratitude can also be appropriate and effective. Instead of "you've got to" do this or that task, change the "o" to an "e". Thus, "you get to" do something. What I'm suggesting is that there are people in other circumstances who would trade places with you and your kids in a heartbeat. They may be living in poverty, under conditions of war or tyranny, be the victims of natural disasters, and numerous other circumstances not of their choosing. We get to do boring, uninteresting things in order to maintain and sustain our privileged lives. We get to live this way because of the blessings we have. It's something to appreciate and not take for granted.
Thanks Ron, and it was great to meet you. Funny that the first thing you asked about my work was “do you do behavioral economics?” And here we are.
I love the Gratitude angle. Great call. Thankfulness is such an important reflex to build, and I think it does need to be built. My dad taught me something similar to this when he explained why you don’t give extra homework as a punishment to students: because schoolwork isn’t a punishment in the first place. Learning new things is a “get to.” Anyway, thanks for calling my attention to this idea.
When I first read your “change the ‘o’ to an ‘e,’” I read it as “‘yeu’ve got to?’ That’s odd.” Then I found the correct “o” to switch! :-)
There's a backstory to changing the "o" to an "e". A woman in my past was getting pushback and whining from her kids about taking the trash out. That's when she told one of her boys to change the o in "I got to" to take out the trash to the e in "I get to" take out the trash. It stuck with me as a reminder.
Thanks Melissa. Hey, with your background and counseling, I'd love to hear more insights you have about these sorts of things. What do you think the average parent would say to this headline question?
Stephen, I enjoyed reading your finished post (we met at a wine bar where your college roommate was playing music in Charleston last Saturday).
I might add a small tip from my work: teaching kids (and adults for that matter) Gratitude can also be appropriate and effective. Instead of "you've got to" do this or that task, change the "o" to an "e". Thus, "you get to" do something. What I'm suggesting is that there are people in other circumstances who would trade places with you and your kids in a heartbeat. They may be living in poverty, under conditions of war or tyranny, be the victims of natural disasters, and numerous other circumstances not of their choosing. We get to do boring, uninteresting things in order to maintain and sustain our privileged lives. We get to live this way because of the blessings we have. It's something to appreciate and not take for granted.
Thanks Ron, and it was great to meet you. Funny that the first thing you asked about my work was “do you do behavioral economics?” And here we are.
I love the Gratitude angle. Great call. Thankfulness is such an important reflex to build, and I think it does need to be built. My dad taught me something similar to this when he explained why you don’t give extra homework as a punishment to students: because schoolwork isn’t a punishment in the first place. Learning new things is a “get to.” Anyway, thanks for calling my attention to this idea.
When I first read your “change the ‘o’ to an ‘e,’” I read it as “‘yeu’ve got to?’ That’s odd.” Then I found the correct “o” to switch! :-)
There's a backstory to changing the "o" to an "e". A woman in my past was getting pushback and whining from her kids about taking the trash out. That's when she told one of her boys to change the o in "I got to" to take out the trash to the e in "I get to" take out the trash. It stuck with me as a reminder.
Great article.
One every parent can relate to.
Good job.
Thanks Melissa. Hey, with your background and counseling, I'd love to hear more insights you have about these sorts of things. What do you think the average parent would say to this headline question?