December Holidays:  Is it Okay to Use Threats About Santas Good Bad List For Child Discipline? You are busy getting ready for the holiday family gatherings that are quickly approaching. While out shopping at the mall, your children start clamoring for you to take them to see Santa so they can give them their wish list. You want to do this on a day when you can get them dressed for the photo opportunity, so you tell them to wait until you can plan that outing another day. They protest in unison, “We wanna see Santa! We wanna see Santa!” You tell them you want them to look nice for Santa. They... (Read More ...)

USING BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES Behavior Charts, Incentives, Stickers, and Tokens.  Should I Use Them? If So, How? Many professionals who dispense parenting advice tell parents to use rewards or create “behavior modification” token systems to teach children a skill, to get children to take on a responsibility, or to curb an unwanted behavior or habit. Often, however, rewarding good behavior with behavior charts has the same effect as bribery. Long-term studies of work incentives, behavior management programs for children, weight loss and stop smoking plans have all found similar,... (Read More ...)