How is that working for you?

I love the phrase, "How is that working for you?"

There is a certain family I know that has three children, ages one, three, and five. The sibling rivalry in that family is intense, so, at the dinner table things can get ugly. The parents are constantly correcting the kids, asking them not to fight at the table. But the same negative behavior keeps repeating isself, day after day, week after week, and months on end. I wonder why they don't try something different? This is where my question, "How is that working for you?" comes in.

If those parents would take a closer look, they would realize that their approach is not changing the way the kids interact at the table. Maybe then they would decide to experiment with a different approach. If they did try other approaches, I bet they would come up with a good one.

Have a recurring problem at your house? Then don’t keep doing the same things to solve it. Try something different next time. If you need ideas, then go to the many child rearing books available today and get some new ones. Any number of those will work for you if you consistently try their methods. If they don’t, stop doing it and try another one. Sooner or later you will find things that work for your family.

Just keep asking yourself ,”How is that working for you?”