| Recently I attended a parenting seminar where the | | | | power the child yields over his parents in driving them |
| lecturer questioned a room full of parents, "What is | | | | to extreme frustration can fill an otherwise empty |
| the single most difficult aspect of raising children?" | | | | emotional bank account. It's the classic case of the |
| The most memorable response drew a lots of | | | | child who would rather get negative attention from |
| laughter; "It's the first twenty-five years." | | | | their parents than no attention. Being yelled at is |
| Indeed, there are numerous challenges we parents | | | | better than being ignored, as it fills his emotional |
| face from the toddler times through their teenage | | | | account with a "bad currency" rather than leaving it |
| years, and beyond! | | | | "in the red". |
| A parenting tip to gain cooperation and good conduct | | | | Here are some suggestions of "deposits" to bump up |
| is to make frequent deposits into our children's | | | | the balance in your child's emotional bank account: |
| emotional bank account. | | | | 1) Give him a gift for no reason. |
| What's an emotional bank account? Think of it this | | | | 2) Place a note that says, "I love you" in her lunch |
| way: When your checking account is overdrawn, it is | | | | bag. |
| hard for you to give away money. Similarly, people | | | | 3) Let him choose (from options you provide) the |
| have emotional bank accounts that must be | | | | next family vacation. |
| sufficiently full for them to give away- not money, | | | | 4) Spend time alone with her at a location of her |
| but time, personal responsibility, and good behavior. | | | | choice. |
| Adding regular "deposits" in your chid's emotional bank | | | | 5) Truly listen when she speaks to you. |
| account is smart investing in their future, so they will | | | | 6) Believe in him, and his ideas. |
| feel secure in "withdrawing" or giving back to you in | | | | 7) Do a surprise favor for her. |
| the form of respect and proper obedience of your | | | | 8) Give him specific and truthful complements. |
| rules. | | | | Making regular deposits in your children's emotional |
| A child who feels that he is running a "negative | | | | bank accounts will yield dividends beyond any those |
| balance" will gain pleasure from making Mom or Dad | | | | of the highest-performing stock on the market! |
| get angry. In a backwards psychological way, the | | | | |