There is nothing as powerful as well chosen words to make your child feel great. That internal sense of satisfaction of a job well done is a feeling money cannot buy. You may be reinforcing your child’s positive behaviors with concrete items or special experiences or something else. At same time, it is important to be instilling a sense of self pride in your child that is itself, the reward.

Your comments and compliments are magical in building your child’s sense of worth. How often do you stop to reflect on just the right way to praise? It is especially important to make your praise clear and specific with younger children and children who have diagnoses of Asperger Syndrome, Autism and ADHD. Here are five categories to help you fine-tune your praising:

1. Acknowledging Praise Words

You are choosing words that give your child acknowledgment of effort or success. This type of praising is helpful when your child is working on meeting a challenge.

“I knew you could do it!”
“You figured it out!”
“You put an incredible amount of thought into that project.”

2. Complimenting Praise Words

These are the type of words that build self-esteem by celebrating success or effort. You are praising an action you have seen and your words will usually have a big exclamation mark at the end!

“Awesome job!”
“Super work!”
“A dynamite job!”
” I admire how hard you work.”
“You are so creative!”

3. Encouraging Praise Words

These are words that you might use intermittently to keep your child moving along. Your child might be having a tough time and encouraging words can be comforting and motivating.

“You are catching on.”
“You’re on your way now.”
‘I knew you could do it.”

4. Affection Praise Words

You are simply sending a ‘thank-you’ message but the message is wrapped in special caring or love.

“You are a joy to work with!”
“Give me a hug!”
“”You made my day!”

5. Esteem Boosting Praise Words

These words comment on a personal quality.

“You are an excellent listener.”
“You are dependable about following through with your responsibilities.”
“You treat people fairly even though it’s hard to lose at the game.”
“I see you take your work seriously and that takes maturity.”
“I love how you get things done!”

Final Tip: Be descriptive as possible about the action you are praising.

A free potty training tip or two may be just what you need to make this step in your child’s development a little bit easier. Potty training is a challenge because, if you think about it, the idea of using a toilet for waste management is a rather abstract concept. To adults, this may seem like a simple task that requires no more thought than walking or breathing but to a child, this can be a great challenge. They have to answer questions for themselves such as “Am I doing this right?”, “Why can’t I just go in my diaper like I always have”, or “What is the purpose of all of this?”. Therefore, it is only natural for a parent to seek advice on how to make this whole process go by more smoothly.

Initiating the Training

First, to train a child to use a toilet, you have to be patient. As such, you should not begin toilet training until you know you’re going to have a few days to dedicate much of your time to this task. Think of it like housebreaking a pet. When you housebreak, or housetrain, a pet, you use many techniques to aid in their learning. Among these techniques is positive encouragement. Just as with a pet, you will want to give your child great amounts of positive encouragement to make them feel good about the fact that they are learning to use a toilet properly. Fortunately, it is much easier to potty train a child than it is to housebreak a pet, because children are capable of cognition, allowing you the following advantages.

Demonstrations

If you’re looking for hints or tricks to making this process easy, demonstrating is what you need to learn to do. Take a doll or stuffed animal and use it to demonstrate how potty training activities work. This will show the child how they need to sit, which is important for them to be able to do it right. Also, throughout your demonstrations, talk about how great it is that the toy is doing it right (which will make your child want to excel, as well). Finally, do not chastise your child if they can’t figure it out right away, because that can lead to anal-retentiveness (neat freak) or obsessive-compulsive disorders.

Potty Training Tips

Here are some other tips to consider during this process. Do not make your child feel ashamed of the waste products he or she is producing. This can lead to your child feeling self-conscious about using the toilet. Also, make sure that the training toilet that you use is not too large or too small for your child because you want your child to be as comfortable as possible throughout this process. Finally, keep in mind that it can take a few weeks or longer for your child to finally be able to use the bathroom on his or her own. Patience is a necessity for any potty training parent.

There are no secrets to making this process easier. Of course, there are things you can do to make it easier, but in actuality, you are simply teaching your child a life skill that they will have to learn, eventually. No matter what, do not give up and remember to guide your child every step of the way. After all, once training is complete, you will never have to worry about it ever again.

I woke up the other day and had a two and a half year old daughter that needed potty training. How did this happen? It seems like yesterday that I was sitting in a bar somewhere trying to forget about, what I thought at that time, were big problems. You know things like my boss being a jerk, or my girlfriend just not understanding me. You know, the real important questions we all deal with in life. But then I woke up the other morning, a single father, potty training a two and a half year old. Are you freakin’ kidding me?

The best way I can think of describing this little adventure is to pose a question. Have you ever had a puppy? Because it sure seems to me that the principle’s are the same as getting that puppy to poop outside, rather that on your kitchen floor. The only difference, that I can see, is that it’s by beautiful little girl pissing all over herself instead of a little dog doing it. The frustrating thing is that with the dog, you can just kick it or rub the dog’s nose in the pee if it continues to light up the living room floor. With your daughter it’s much more complicated. Kicking her is out of the question and you really do want to help. But it is frustrating.
I mean I understand it to a degree. And she has done a great job with old number 2. It’s number 1 that’s been dicey. If I had the option of peeing in my pants, I ‘d probably take it. I’m not going to lie about it. Human beings do what’s easiest for the most part. And what would be easier than just going to town in your pants? And then having some poor sap clean it up for you? If I had this kind of treatment I’d be reluctant to stop as well. So number one continues to be the issue and you know what? I wouldn’t trade this opportunity for anything. If nothing else, it’s fascinating.

As with most things that she says and does, most of the time I’m in awe of the way a two and a half year old can interact and learn in this world. It truly is a blessing and for those of us who are lucky enough to be a part of this game called parenthood, we should feel blessed.
It doesn’t change the fact that when I put her panties on her and invariably fifteen minutes later hear the now familiar, “Daddy, I pee’d”, I don’t feel like running over and rubbing her nose in it. Hey, maybe that would get the point across? I’m kidding of course.

Her and I will just continue on our current path and I’m sure it will all work out in the end. It’s like I told a friend recently, “It’s not like she’ll be eight years old and peeing in her pants.” She’ll have this little mountain conquered in a couple of weeks, I’m sure of it.