patty says. class two.

patty talked a lot about sibling order tonight. we also read a lot of positive discipline before we came, which i found insightful: "Another major change is that in today's society children have fewer opportunities to learn responsibility and motivation. We no longer need children as important contributors to economic survival. Instead children are given too much in the name of love without any effort or investment on their part and they develop an entitlement attitude." (from Positive Discipline, Jane Nelson, Ed.D.) [a possible explanation for the generation i am a part of and why we think we are entitled to everything].

tonight's fun fact for the babysitters and parents of young kiddos: when working with children and using the 1-2-3 tactic-- do not talk between your one two and three. example: "one... you better come over here before i get to two... one and a half.... alright i'm leaving with out you... two... don't let me get to three... two and a half.... three" just don't do that. it's not effective. a simple one, two, three works fine. talking between gives the power to the kids.

sad: of all the counseling niches, the one that has the lowest rate of good results is couples counseling. why? well, the couples are coming in too late. maybe you want to go to a counseling session, even if things are going well. it couldn't hurt, right?

quit freaking out: not letting kids experience pain is a way of abandoning their development. quit protecting them. let them feel hurt. it's good for them.

that's all i got.