Child Training

Carolyn Miller, in a comment on a previous blog, said she wished for more writing on child training. My first thought was that anyone who knows our family knows we aren't a model family. But I did think of a story my brother Myron told about Joel.

When Joel was quite young, he said something in an obnoxious whiney voice, at which point Myron gave him some instruction. It went something like this:

"When you talk in a whiney voice, people don't feel like paying much attention to you. But when you say what you need in a regular tone of voice, they're more likely to want to hear what you say."

He observed Joel after that, apparently processing the new found information and catching himself in mid-whine, to adjust his tone of voice to a more pleasant one.

Myron finished by saying "so then I got over-confident and thought all you have to do is tell your children once how to behave and they'll do so from then on."

It's amazing what the experience of parenting three children can do to moderate your views of what works and what doesn't.

I understand Carolyn's desire though to hear from people who have been through the process. While all-encompassing, fail-safe formulas will not be forthcoming in this column, I see the value of sharing tidbits here and there. If enough people do so, people looking for answers are more likely to find something helpful in the collection than they would if no one talks about it for fear they won't be able to be thorough enough to be balanced.