Step 1. Hover over and make sure she follows through with every task I give.
Step 2. Lots and lots of drill, requiring her to complete a given task, undo it, and do it over again.
- Drill
- Disciplined, repetitious exercise as a means of teaching and perfecting a skill or procedure.
- To instruct thoroughly by repetition in a skill or procedure: drill pupils in grammar.
- To infuse knowledge of or skill in by repetitious instruction.
For us drill is several-fold.
First it is more practice on follow-through; secondly I want her to listen for details and variances in my instructions and follow accordingly; an additional bonus I hope she may come by, is the acquisition of a new skill.
Step 3. (this step is crucial to achieving the ultimate goal) High praise for every sincere effort and success.
I have yet to know how to drive this motivation home in other ways besides words, but I'm thinking of shiny stars on an "Olivia is Amazing!" banner on the wall or fridge.
In addition to the three things above, I am attempting to keep her by my side all day.
Sweet Olivia needs my attention as well as the time required to teach her and know if she's being successful. If I get distracted and she is attached to my hip, I might keep on task better too.
We are not sailing on smooth waters yet, rather it has been a test of my endurance and ingenuity. Just how creative and persevering can I be?
The day is only half over:-)
I expect this to only be the beginning of a long voyage.
4 comments:
Many blessing on you and olivia today! :)
I ended up with Billy attached to my hip for a WEEK once! I fell for everyone telling me how good and sweet and obedient he is - which he is. He is also a master of manipulation and an evil genius in his spare time! It clicked when I found him watering the inside of the shed (complete with all the things stored in it) with the HOSE. The third time that day. A week at the hip helped a lot. We may be gearing up for another one, he's cut his sister's hair among other mischievous deeds in the past fortnight!
Dearest of Jess's...
You can't imagine the gift that your comment brings tonight in the form of laughter:-)
I was having a good tear-jerking cry just now, though not over Olivia.
Feeling a little melancholy this evening and AJ is out of town so that compounds it. A lot.
It is more precious than I can describe, to know that children on the other side of the world (who now have names and faces) also stretch the patience and endurance of their mothers!
Thank you.
You are a friend among friends:-)
-'Lene
I fully understand you. We do tomato staking with the kids often. It produces great fruit in the end even though it sometimes can be a bit tedious. And the time your little one gets being attached to your hip has a value that can never be measured.
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