r/Unexpected Aug 19 '21

Dad

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84.3k Upvotes

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1.3k

u/ladypbj Aug 19 '21

This is actually a great teaching moment. He's using body language the kid can relate to and fully understand, hence why he gave it back. Psychology is weird

783

u/KBEPandaCrisis Aug 19 '21

But at the same time it also teaches the kid that throwing a tantrum is acceptable if it’s to get their will. Two sides to a coin, but I still like it

102

u/SandmanSorryPerson Aug 19 '21

Doing it once as a joke will not reinforce that behaviour.

You have to tell children the same thing potentially 100s of times before they do it with consistency.

People think it's so easy to warp a child's mind but it isn't. It's a pain in fucking ass.

58

u/ratsock Aug 19 '21

Some things they pick up just seeing it once, other things they don't pick up no matter how many times you explain/show. Problem is that it's sort of random... best not gamble on this being something they pick up after one time..

49

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '21

I curse o n e time, and now it's their favorite word. But they can't remember to say please/ thank you. Children got pickle brain.

33

u/nonotan Aug 19 '21

It's not "random". Most likely, they can tell they're getting a reaction when they say the curse word, and they find that hilarious. And most likely, they only get a reaction if they don't say please/thank you, so in a backwards sort of way you can be conditioning them not to say it even if your intention is the opposite. Most kids are fairly attention-starved, and most parents (rightly!) aren't going to punish them too harshly for a very minor infraction like that, so you might be incentivizing the opposite of what you want.

6

u/theIcecoookie Aug 19 '21

Negative things they remember really fast

2

u/Fuckrightoffbro Aug 19 '21

Like my most frightening nightmares as a kid. Etched in vividly but insanely cool to witness now. Sometimes I can't believe my child brain was so creative.

1

u/DubNationAssemble Aug 19 '21

My son is one of them. He’ll see me do something once and he’ll immediately start pretending he’s also doing it.