Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Duh! Why didn't I think of that for a solution?

I noticed a few years back that explaining WHY I wanted DS8 to do something nearly always worked better than just telling/asking him to do something. He's an excellent grocery shopping buddy now! He also helps take care of the dogs and packs his own lunch each morning. Life is so much easier these days!

I'm the same way, Epoh, but somehow it never clicked that I needed to share WHY we don't block people in an aisle.

That is AWESOME. Thank you for sharing

I can think of several things I ought to try this for!

It reminded me of when DS was 2 or less, and he went out on the balcony to play in the rain. I was sitting there thinking, well, he'll come in if he gets cold, and suddenly it occurred to me that he didn't know that coming inside would solve being cold. Sure enough, he was sitting outside in the rain, shivering and crying. I felt so bad, but it was a good lesson in what rules might not be innately understood.

People sometimes laugh at me for this, but I have gotten into the habit of telling my kids to "stay where you can see me" instead of "stay where I can see you". People will say I misspoke, but I said exactly what I meant because when ODS was younger I realized, he has no idea whether I can see him or not, only whether he can see me! Sometimes we say things to kids assuming they have the same frame of reference that we do, but of course they don't.