Parent Talk

Choices "Do you want your eggs fried or scrambled?" - 3 "Choose, decide, pick." - 5 Cartoon - 8 "You always have more choices than you think you have." - 9 "Please make a different choice" - 11 Cartoon - 14 "Please make a decision" - 15 "You decide" - 18 "Don't be a quitter" - 21 Response-ability "Act as if." - 27 "You're a car." - 29 "Check yourself." - 32 "Check it out inside." - 34 "What's your goal?" - 36 Cartoon - 38 "Make a picture in your mind." - 39 "Soon I'll be gone." - 43 "What do you attribute that to?" - 45 "I'm willing to pay part of it." - 48 Cartoon - 50 "No." - 51 "You sure are persistent." - 54 "Determination." - 58 "You always/never." - 60 "It's easy." - 63 "This is going to be hard." - 65 "That's impossible." - 67 The Search for Solutions "Sounds like you have a problem." - 73 "I know you can handle it." - 75 "Every problem has a solution." - 77 Cartoon - 80 "I want you to help me solve my problem." - 81 "We've got a problem. Who's willing to help?" - 84 Learned Helplessness Ten things to say to promote learned helplessness in your children - 89 "Here, let me do that." - 90 "You sure are lucky." - 92 "One...two...three." - 94 Cartoon - 96 "There you go again." - 97 "That's the fifth time I've had to speak to you about this." - 99 "That's not a good excuse." - 101 Cartoon - 104 "Be careful or you'll spill that." - 105 Praise, Criticism and Self-Esteem "You did a good job." - 111 "All your letters are right between the lines." - 114 "I appreciate your efforts. Thanks." - 116 Ten things to say to share appreciation - 118 "That's terrible." - 119 "Next time." - 122 Parent Talk at Its Worst The twenty worst things to say to your children - 127 "If you don't straighten up, I'm going to leave you here." - 129 "Why can't you be more like your sister?" - 131 "I was only teasing." - 133 "Act your age." - 135 "What did I just tell you?" - 137 Fifteen things parents say to guilt-trip their children - 139 "We never wanted you anyway." - 142 Intimacy Ten things to say to build family solidarity - 147 Cartoon - 149 "I love you." - 150 "Sally, Charles, Roberto, Mary, Helene." - 153 "I noticed." - 155 "Different people have different needs." - 157 "Inch by inch." - 159 "Some of us." - 161 "I'm sorry." - 163 "Touch each other gently." - 165 The ten best things you can say to your children - 167 Twenty ways to tell your children you love them - 168 Feelings Seven things to say to help your child feel heard - 173 "Sounds like you're feeling frustrated." - 175 "That's nothing to feel bad about." - 178 "I understand just how you feel." - 180 "You can show me how you're feeling with this pillow." - 183 "Don't you talk to me like that." - 185 "If I were you." - 187 "Say you're sorry." - 190 Cartoon - 193 Increasing Conflict Ten things to say to increase conflict - 197 "Because I said so, that's why." - 198 Cartoon - 200 "Okay, who did it?" - 201 "Tell me your side of it." - 203 "Did you win?" - 205 "Why did you do that?" - 208 "I told you so." - 210 Reducing Conflict Ten things to say to reduce conflict - 215 "I see clothes on the floor." - 216 "I don't like what I just heard. If you're angry, tell me another way." - 218 Cartoon - 220 "How can we see this differently?" - 221 "I'm tired of seeing you behave this way." - 224 "How can you both get what you want?" - 227 Cartoon - 230 "Wouldn't it?" - 231 "You're probably right." - 233 "Stop whining." - 236 "Is that a real fight or are you just faking it?" - 236 "What did you really want to tell her.?" - 241 "We'll see." - 243 "My patience is running out." - 245 "I don't want to hear anymore tattling." - 247 Odds and Ends "I'm proud of you." - 253 "Chad, your coat is on the floor. I'm getting angry. It belongs on a hanger in the closet." - 255 "Luis, as you hang up your coat, please straighten the boots in the closet." - 258 "I'll take you to the mall when your room is clean." - 260 Cartoon - 262 "What will you do?" - 263 "I love you and I don't like that behavior." - 265 "I'm really surprised." - 267 "It's homework time." - 269 Cartoon - 271 "I think I'll get started on my work. A fast start helps motivate me to keep going." - 272 "Who do you want to be?" - 274 "I love you." - 277