Are you crazy? Did you just tell your kid "Good job!?"



Parenting trends change right?
Just as you're digesting the latest expert opinion on the most effective language to use with your new-born to achieve best chances for university entry, the game changes.

Have you heard recently we're not supposed to be telling our children "Good job" or "Well done"?

Apparently "Good job" is an overused phrase in our western culture.

Well, if you're taking that line, so is "Mum I drew you (another) rainbow."
Are we going to try and stamp that out too?

Apparently we're using "Good job" too often for non-noteworthy events like eating vegetables.
Apparently we're creating PRAISE JUNKIES.
What are we supposed to say to "Mum I drew you (anther) rainbow"??

"Meh...." and shrug?

Apparently now we need to be conversational in our observations..... "Timmy I liked the way you chewed up that piece of sausage, what magic will you weave with your peas? And what is your intrinsic motivation with your carrots tonight?"

Um, you don't think perhaps that might be creating a whole new brand of anxiety riddled neediness?

Apparently offering praise is manipulating children.
Um, isn't that just a dirty word for teaching them?

The new trend is, instead of saying "Good job tidying up those toys", we're supposed to engage our children in conversation about how much more smoothly the playroom will function now.....
I hope these experts have engineered a way to insert four extra hours into my day!

Apparently "Good job" tells a child how to feel.
And steals his pleasure....

Apparently 'Silence' is sometimes the correct response to your child's efforts.
Well on behalf of all the mothers I know.... WE'VE TRIED 'SILENCE', BELIEVE ME!

Gosh I bet child services are going to be busy in the immediate future, what with all this joy dilution going on.

One expert even asks "Do you find it encouraging or limiting when someone offers you a constant string of compliments?"

Well, I don't know about you, but it crushes my spirit. Every. Single. Time.

Hey Anxious Mum's! Ready for a whole new level of your favourite game: "You're Not Doing It Right"?????

Remember the good old days when you were a considered a good parent for sitting down on the floor and playing Lego with your kids, and weren't accused of psychologically damaging them if you didn't converse about the features and benefits of the physics within the engineering design of their constructions?

Yeah, me too. Lets go back to that, I was more comfortable there.