Mom has happy eyes!

by Amanda
(Owosso, Michigan, USA)

I have a three-year old named Zach.

He is a very smart and loving little boy, however he also has some anger issues.

I have found that it is not productive to call your kids bad or make them out to be failures.

I took a different approach.

When Zachary does good, I tell him that he made my eyes very happy.

When he does something wrong I make sad eyes.

When he is not sure if something upset me he will ask, "mom you have happy eyes for me"? and he will patiently wait for me to answer.

He thinks of it as a reward when he makes his mommy happy.

Sometimes I have noticed him going out of his way to do nice things to make me as he says, "happy eyes".

If I tell him my eyes aren't happy he makes a sad face until I smile and bat my eyes at him, showing him how happy I really am.

It also helps him to communicate what he is feeling instead of using mean words or harmful actions.

I have truly seen a different kid since we have tested this method out.

Hopefully he continues on this good streak with expressing himself.