I learned a good discipline motto from a close friend of mine when my oldest daughter was a toddler. Whenever her little one would hit, she'd tell him, "Hands are for helping."
I've been using this gem for 6 years now and all my kids have heard it. In fact I use it daily. I've even added extras ("...and holding and hugging") and listed the exclusions ("...not hitting or hurting," and, most recently, "... or pinching or scratching...").
Until recently, this rule has gone unquestioned, uncontested. The other day, I was scolding my 4-year-old son Milo (who’s had his fair share of these warnings!) for scratching his sister in retribution for some minor transgression.
Milo, you know hands are for helping. Not hurting or hitting or pinching or scratching."
He looked at his hands and clearly saw they had done nothing wrong. "What are fingers for?" he asked. "Poking?"
Happy sweeping!
Kathleen Gunther
Editor, ContestHound.com
