Delaying gratification

Excuse Me…and Dont’ Interrupt!

by Betsy Brown Braun on January 9, 2011, under Behavior, Discipline, Expectations, Parenting

As often happens, over the weekend I ran into a client at the grocery store. Mid aisle we stopped for a brief greeting. As soon as the mom began to speak to me, her son piped up with, “Mom, Mom, can we get some Gatorade?” tugging at her jacket. “Please don’t interrupt me,” she calmly reminded her son and rewound the tape to complete her thought with me. “Excuse me. Excuse me, Mom? Mom? Excuse me.” he demanded. “Wait a minute, Steven. I am talking to Betsy,” Mom … [Read more...] about Excuse Me…and Dont’ Interrupt!

Brats are not born

by Betsy Brown Braun on April 24, 2010, under Behavior, Brat-Proofing, Character traits, Communication, Parent modeling, Parenting

In response to my recent appearance on the Today Show – http://www.clicker.com/tv/today-show/Brat-proof-your-child-866570.html in case you missed it! — a woman wrote to tell me I was off base. She said that children are naturally brats and are naturally selfish. While I would not be quick to countradict this mother of 4 and grandmother of 11 who clearly has a lot of experience, I must say she is right and she is wrong. She is correct: children are born selfish. Infants and toddlers … [Read more...] about Brats are not born

Gimme Juice Now!

by Betsy Brown Braun on April 9, 2010, under Behavior, Environmental influences, Parenting

Regardless of the topic of the seminar I am teaching, I end up making the same point: There are three peaks a child must climb in order to grow up and make his way through life fairly happily: learning to tolerate frustration, learning to tolerate disappointment (These first two are kind of twin peaks.), and learning to delay gratification. It is the last peak, the one that stands on its own, that parents find particularly daunting. Being able to delay gratification is directly related to … [Read more...] about Gimme Juice Now!

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