Teaching risk/reward calculations...

A friend of mine once told me that he never says "no" to his kids. He says "Yes" with conditions.

For example:

"Can I have a lollipop?"
"Yes...if you finish all your vegetables."
Or "Yes...tomorrow."

You get the idea.

The other night, Calanit was having spaghetti with tomato sauce...while wearing a white shirt. We asked her to wear a bib. She declined.

In the old days, I would have used my authority and power to get her to do it.

This time, I said..."ok, tonight we will have a lesson in risk and reward calculation."

"Calanit, if you don't wear a bib and you spill sauce on your shirt, you will not watch Backyardigans tomorrow. If you don't wear a bib and don't spill, then you will have successfully demonstrated that you don't need one and you can take some measure of satisfaction in that achievement."

I reiterated the trade-off two more times. She agreed to the terms, elected to not wear a bib....

and there were no stains on her shirt after dinner. We were impressed and she was VERY proud.