Today’s Parenting Tip:

Decide:        Plastic compliments are not really compliments.

Practice:      A plastic compliment is one that sounds good but ends up blowing up in your face at the end like bubble gum does.

Spend the day listening for examples.  (“Your grade is so much better than I expected.”  “Thank you for finally cleaning your room.”)

If you caught yourself using any of these kinds of messages, think how else you could have made your point.  (Thanks to Jean Illsley Clarke for describing plastic messages.)

Let us know which tips you like the best or any others you think of that you want to pass along to others.

Today’s Decide and Practice daily parenting tip was inspired by our featured picture book, THE MONSTER WHO LOST HIS MEAN.  Read the book to a child in your life each day as a reminder of what you are deciding and practicing that day.

Come back each day for another good parenting decision and how to practice it. (Each day’s activity will also be posted on Daily Parenting Tips page for easy access.)

Read the whole story at Correct; Don’t Criticize – Part 2.