Living Love & Logic Tip #73

Over the past three decades, we've noticed that the most successful parents begin early in their children's lives with these steps:

Step One: Pray for your teeny-tiny ones to misbehave or be resistant.

Remember: The road to wisdom is paved with mistakes.

Step Two: Sing a sweet, empathetic, "Uh-Oh!"

Step Three: Follow through by taking over in a loving way.

Little Larry is nine months old and ready to do some major crawling and some major grabbing of Fluffy the cat's tail. Since his parents are praying for misbehavior, they are elated instead of exasperated.

They sing, "Uh-Oh," and put Larry into his playpen away from Fluffy.

Larry is now sixteen months old. He's being resistant to getting into his car safety seat. His mother's prayers have been answered!

"Uh-Oh," she sings as she straps him into his car seat.

Larry is now three. Every time he hears, "Uh-Oh," he thinks, "Uh-Oh!" and stops misbehaving.

It’s never too early to teach your children that your word is gold. Hear the "Uh-Oh, Song," modeled on the audio CD, Toddlers and Pre-Schoolers.

Thanks for reading! Our goal is to help as many families as possible. If this is a benefit, forward it to a friend.

Dr. Charles Fay
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