Positive Parenting – Say YES!

Turning a NO into a YES is a great positive parenting skill. Particularly children can shut down when they hear NO and our brains immediately switch to defensiveness and reaction. When we offer a YES moment, we are offering teachable moments. We are expressing to our children what behavior we are expecting, rather than a point-blank NO. We are giving them positive messages that provoke collaboration and cooperation. Other daily examples could be:

“Stop whining” – “Can you speak more clearly please”

“Stop coloring on the floor” – “Crayons are for paper”

“Not now, I’m busy!” = “Mummy will be done in X minutes, and then we can…”

“We can’t *go to the playground*” – “I know you love the playground, we can *do that on a sunnier day*. Today, perhaps we could…”

Such a simple twist in our words and our child’s behavior could shift from a massive meltdown to cooperation. I challenge you, at the end of today, have a think about all the moments you said NO to your children and reflect on ways those NO’S could have been a YES.

Click the image below, to read a more in-depth article on Positive Parenting.