Slowing down

We're on the upswing over here. After ONE ROUGH WEEK (or more rough than usual), darling son is back to his sweet self. Since Wednesday, we've had a daily chart to record the events of the day, the good thing that would happen if it went well (and what well meant) and the bad thing that would happen if it went badly (and what badly meant). It's going well, not perfectly, but well. He's making good choices, which I am pointing out, and that means he's earning more good things.

I think the positive rewards (verbal praise, a book to read...small things) work well. It makes him feel good for doing the right thing. BUT...I think he had to get over the angry-Tasmanian Devil phase first. He got that out in a major tantrum Tuesday evening. I gave it no attention. Then (the next day in this case), after he had demonstrated that he was ready to make good choices, he was ready for positives. I think if I would have tried positive rewards when he wasn't ready, it would not have worked.

However, this time in "nice mode", I am going to work harder noticing the positives while things are going well. We're also going to slow down, focus more on family time rather than our usual hectic pace of life. Simplify, simplify, simplify.