Principles of Filial Research

Dear Parents in Practice,

This blogsite offers you opportunity to identify and practice recording logs/notes that 

• A ... reflect objective description of facts you observed, rather than
• B ... reflect jumping to conclusions, interpreting observations, or labeling too soon.

Visitors to the site are encouraged to read the example of in each category (A, B).  Next, recall a recent episode in your parenting life.  Record a Type A description. Contrast A with a possible Type B response:

Example #1.

A.  Twenty-eight month old female walked into the living room w/o adult supervision.  A dish of candy corn sat on the coffee table.  Mother raised her voice from the kitchen in the direction of the child, "Don't you pick up that candy! And get back here now! You better not be eating any! " The child returned to the kitchen in four minutes.  Her cheeks were bulging.  She was drooling. "I didn't," the child said to her mother.

B.  A very cute toddler named Felicia made a bee line for the living room to grab some forbidden candy while her mother yelled at her not to.  The mom just let her go and kept yelling at her from the kitchen.  What did she expect from the toddler?  All kids love candy.  She's teaching her kid to lie, by the way.  It's surprising how early kids can learn to lie!

__________________________________________________________________________________

Your turn...