Think Before You Speak

Scott has really been trying to teach Nate the concept of "Think Before You Speak" lately. And I have to say he has had some success.

Last week, I asked Nate to wash his hands. He was quiet for a minute and then said, "Mom, I was going to say 'No Way Doodie Head', but I thunk about it and decided not to say it."

What can you say? I laughed hysterically instead, it totally caught me off guard. When I recovered, I told him that I was glad he thought about it and good job on thinking before you speak.

A couple of follow-ups to this story...

1. Nate doesn't say Doodie Head, or worse, think it's okay for one second to call us Doodie Head. So I think it's kinda funny that he would choose this word to "think" about.
2. I told Scott that his plan was working, although Nate still gets to say what he is thinking, even if it is terrible.
3. Scott said #2 was no big, the point is that he isn't saying it with aggression. He was happy his plan was working

Now we hear, "Mom/Dad, I was going to say XXXXXX, but I thunk about it and decided not to," many times a day. But according to Scott, the plan is working, so I'm going with that. So the next part of the plan needs to be teaching him to not actually say what he is thinking, but instead "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

One concept at a time...