How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen: A Survival Guide to Life with Children Ages 2-7 (The How To Talk Series)

by Joanna Faber

your spouse isn’t happy and says to you, “I need you to make dinner earlier on week nights so I can get to bed earlier. Listen, I’m going to offer you a reward. For every five nights that you get dinner on the table by 6 p.m., I’ll take you out to a restaurant of your choice. I made a sticker chart so I can track your successes!” What’s wrong with this scenario? Why do we suddenly have the urge to serve dinner at midnight . . . burnt? Well, first of all, does your spouse even care about your feelings? Does he not recognize the effort you put into all this food production? Does he realize how difficult it would be to get it all done earlier? And what if you get dinner on the table early four nights in a row, and then mess up on the fifth? Do you have to start from square one because of a single misstep? Is it even worth the effort? What about that reward? Maybe a new car would be a better incentive. Maybe you should be getting rewards for all the other things you do around the house. A new pair of boots for folding the laundry, a flat-screen TV for cleaning the toilet.