Comments on: Warning: abundant praise still readily available in my house

By: RookieMom Heather

RookieMom Heather — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 06:03:27 +0000

Now I just love the same part Jessica does. Because you know if he is a whiny little bitch, we will all blame you.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:52:02 +0000

I know there’s some tongue-in-cheek action going on in this post, but that being said, I just have to respond to it as a kindergarten teacher and mom who (hopefully) doesn’t take herself too seriously. Firstly, I think you absolutely should take “she’ll” as a rhyme with “drill” for the exact reasons you gave! He’s hearing what we say, not how it’s written, and that’s right on! Secondly, I think the debate with praise is centering around *empty* praise and does not advocate brutal honesty and making your children cry. I’m not an expert, but from what I gather, instead of saying “Wow! Good job!” when your son does a magic trick, you can say, “Wow! I can tell you just love magic!” or “Wow! I can tell you’ve really been working on that!” praising his effort and passion instead of the product.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 20:23:42 +0000

Very well written… and very well played, ma’am!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 03:52:51 +0000

Obviously, you didn’t start him off correctly with infant flash cards. *tsk*

Seriously though… a game that sets your kid up to fail and then you get to reinforce that they fail? Sounds like a fail-game to me!

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 05:24:55 +0000

amen sister!

(although if my daughter grows up to be as tone deaf as my husband, I will let her know… that way she won’t become the laughing stock of the 2030 american idol auditions. There are times when honesty IS the best policy.)

By: Tegan and Tage

Tegan and Tage — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:29:31 +0000

I could not love this post more. Nicely written, Whitney, and thanks for sharing!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:40:31 +0000

Thanks for these true examples of when being brutally honest with constructive criticism may NOT be the best course of action. Sounds like you were right on to me!

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:27:38 +0000

“If he grows up to be a whiny little bitch, just blame it on me, ok?”

I love it! And I agree. How is it bad to give a child praise? This sounds a lot like “if you pick him up whenever he cries, he’ll just expect it,” “she’s going to be taking that pacifier to college” and “if you let him in your bed, he’ll never leave.” I just don’t buy it.