While verbal encouragement can be a very effective way to reward your children for a job well done, there are times when it may be appropriate up the ante in the pampering department. Of course, you don’t want to go overboard when it comes to pampering since this could leave your children feeling entitled — and entitled children are rarely ever grateful children. So you need to know how to pamper your children the right way, and that’s exactly what this article will cover.
Be Temperate
Encouraging your children when they behave properly or go above the call to duty can encourage further positive behavior. However, it’s important that you be mindful of not pampering to excess. So treating your children to a handful of candy, for instance, should be a once-in-a-blue-moon sort of event so that they don’t come to expect chocolate, gummy bears, or cracker jacks whenever they behave. Instead of relying on things to pamper your child, focus primarily on verbal encouragement that will serve as positive reinforcement to growing productive and respectful people. When your children are treated to stuff on occasion, they will appreciate it more and won’t come to see rewards as their just due for simply doing what they should be doing — behaving.
Get Them Involved
Another way to avoid pampering to excess is to involve your children in the reward. So if you opt to prepare a special meal after your children bring home excellent report cards, for instance, you can get all of the ingredients of their favorite meals — and then get them to participate in preparing it. Whether you’ve bought steaks to put on the barbeque, purchased ground beef to whip up a batch of sloppy joes, or bought any of a number of other types of food, you can get everyone involved in the process. After the preparation and the cooking, you’ll all be able to sit down to a nice meal. And you can bet your children will appreciate it more if they have to help prepare it. Another way to get them involved — should you provide your children a small allowance — would be to teach them to save some of their money so that they can partially fund fun outings. They’lll appreciate the value of a dollar when they’re required to pitch in.
Observe
If you have multiple children, you no doubt understand that no two children are alike…even if they’re twins, triplets, or so forth. What this means is that you need to be on your toes to keep abreast of how your children react to pampering. You might, in other words, have to pamper your children differently depending on their personalities and inclinations. If you notice that any of them are getting entitled, you’ll then need to fine-tune your approach to avoid excessive pampering. You definitely don’t want your children to get to the stage where they expect to be rewarded.
Yes, indeed, it is possible to pamper your children the right way. You can encourage positive behavior and reinforce good habits that will serve your children well throughout their lives. Done the right way, your children will come to understand that good behavior is something that is expected of law abiding, contributing members of society.
