Originally Posted by Val
I've seen arguments in favor of forcing a child to do a task in order to "teach" that something seemingly too hard was doable after all. But if external pressure always has to be applied, it's entirely possible that the lesson will actually be, "I can't do anything by myself."

This is such a powerful point, Val. And this is selfish, but the thought of threatening (with a raised level of aggravation at home) all the time to get my kid to do things just wears me flat. I can't and won't do it.

Honestly, I can't see how anyone can go from external pressure to internal pressure all by himself just because external pressure is put on constantly. Where is the mechanism for that leap?