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Discipline Matters
What Is Grandma's Rule?
By Elizabeth Pantley
An added benefit to using Grandma's Rule is that it eliminates the need to use "fighting words." Fighting words are those that start a battle even before the rest of the sentence is heard – words such as, You can't, Don't, No and Stop!
Notice how the choice of words affects the feeling conveyed by these requests:
You can't go outside until you finish your homework.
Yes, you can go outside just as soon as you finish your homework.
Don't eat that cookie until after your dinner.
Yes, you can have a cookie right after dinner.
No, you can't go to Jimmy's house.
You can go to Jimmy's house on Saturday, after soccer practice.
As you can see, Grandma's rule allows you to use positive communication while being very specific about what you want. And the best thing is – it works!
