You can read all the parenting books in the world, but sometimes the most useful lessons are the ones that you have to learn on your own. Since each child is "special" in their own sort of way, there's no one-size-fits-all solution to parenting dilemmas. (And let's face it, don't we all hate one-size-fits-all anyway?)
Motivating a child can take some imagination. Fortunately, I'm starting to "get" what makes my boys tick. My oldest child is a lot like his Daddy. He is developing a love for sports. And one of his first words was "touchdown." During the NFL game last night, he informed us that football is his favorite game. He stood in front of our large screen TV during the first half and played "air football." On every play, he would run around after the snap and pretend to carry the ball until the end of the play when he would roll on the ground as if he were tackled. It was funny at first, but I'm pretty sure his orthopedic doctor would not be pleased that he was getting tackled on every play. (He still hasn't been cleared to resume full activity since his collar bone fracture.)
When we watch baseball on TV, my son plays air baseball as well. He warms up and taps the plate before every at-bat with his pretend bat. Then he swings at every pitch. If the batter remotely makes contact, my son then runs around the entire house and slides into home plate. This game seemed kind of dangerous too, but that was before he started playing pretend football.
The moral of the story is that ball games and sports lingo work with my son. He doesn't have a "bedtime." Instead, he knows it's time to hit the sack at "halftime" every night. He also knows that staying up for "overtime" is a huge privilege, because that means he's staying up really late. Whether it's golf, baseball, basketball, football, or soccer, using sports terminology with the little guy works great. Let's just say that counting to 3 takes on an entirely different meaning when you're talking about striking out.
I've also discovered that I can use sports as a great "reward" for good behavior. It's really funny to see a child so motivated to clean up his room or to take a nap just so that he can spend his evening with the family at the driving range. A few weeks ago, Grandma promised him a football party at her house. He was the best child that day. He announced to people everywhere we went that he was going to have a football party. It must have been fun, because he informed me that he and Grandpa need to go see some more football when it gets dark again.
Apparently, using sports to teach economics works too. My son hates that Daddy goes to work every day. But he was willing to accept the concept that Daddy goes to work to make money so that Daddy can buy him a basketball court someday. I can already tell you that I'm dreading our future house hunting adventures with this little guy. Most children want swimming pools. Mine want basketball courts and putting greens.
Anyway, I can't tell you what's going to work for your child, but I am learning to think outside of the batter's box with mine. Sometimes when it comes to dealing with my kiddos, I just have to be willing to play ball.
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