As we were headed upstairs for my daughter's nap time yesterday I tossed one of her books onto the couch.
"Mama," she looked at me suddenly with large serious two-year-old eyes, "We don't throw things."
"You're right," I said, in my hurry up and go upstairs to nap voice, "We don't throw things. Next time Mommy will not throw."
"Mama," she said again slowly, "Put the book down gently." She pointed at the book in all seriousness. "Put the book down gently." She stared at me and waited, her little foot hoovering above the stair, making it clear she wasn't going upstairs yet.
"Put the book down gently."
Now, I'm the parent so part of me wanted to say, "look sweet heart, it's time to go upstairs. Mama can throw things if she wants to. And I don't have to "practice" putting it down gently."
But instead, because I usually try to have her "fix" her mistakes or "show me" how to do something the right way, I sucked up my pride and modeled putting the book down gently.
"Thank you Mama," she said sweetly. "You put the book down gently."
Ah, yes, she's got the Responsive Classroom 3 R's down. Remind, Reinforce, Redirect.
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