I just got a new job in a store, and as I was checking inventory on my pad for some managerial crap, I put my pad down to ring some people up. Well, long story short, I lost my pad for awhile and kept doing things up front. A little girl who was seven or eight brings it back up, telling me it had fallen under some things and she fetched it. I feel like when kids go out of their way to do something good for others, they need to recognize that some of the time it genuinely is appreciated, and I think at a young age, this is most recognized with a combination of tangible and intangible, so when the girl and her grandmother checked out, I gave her a dollar in quarters I had in my pocket and told her when she was my age and someone did something like that for her, to pay it forward. Was this the right thing to do? I mentioned she won't always be rewarded for doing the right thing in her life... Am I teaching this kid anything bad? I sort of wondered afterwards if I wasn't teaching her to act only for the money?
i think that is a valid point on your part. she MIGHT try to do it again for money. but if so, she probably had that yen for money to begin with. i think you did a good thing, it doesn't have to be money, but a kid needs positive reinforcement for doing something like that. (hell, we all do. lol)
I think Thats great!! I have a young child my self and would be proud if she got a reward for doing something nice.... celtgrrl, i love napoleon...thats great
Positive reinforcement is a great way to encourage kids to do what is right. It doesn't always mean that you need to give them anything of material value, but just a nice praise and "pat on the back" so-to-speak can really make a child feel good about what they did and make them want to do what is right in the future. But I think the way you handled the situation, being that this was someone else's child, was not inappropriate at all. I think you did just fine Abyle!
i think that's awsome! The fact that you explained to her about "paying it foward" probably helped. But also the fact that you told her that she's not always going to get repaid for doing something good more than likely gave her more of a realistic idea of what to expect...not giving her false hopes and setting her up for dissapointment. all in all, I wish that there were more people like you out there.
I think it was alright fo ryou to do...it would be wrong probably if she was yours and you did it allll the time...gave her things for doing things. I bet that little girl will remember that fora while. it was nice of you
This has been a LONG time parenting technique. Reward the Behavior. NOT the child. They know. They remember. It wasn't ABOUT that dollar. It was rewarding the Honesty.
I think you were just being nice, but i sure as hell wish someone would have payed me everytime i did something good when i was little.
Positive reinforcement is the best thing for anyone young or old; and gifts of appreciation are great in any form. Children, especially, find it easier to understand physically tangible forms of appreciation, and the knowledge that 'good things come back to you' will stick with the young'en much more that the money. You did good; sometimes us hippies really worry about promoting materialism, but I don't think that applies here.
I beleive that you did the right thing by showing recognition to her and giving her a dollar. in time she will learn that recognition and a thank you is all she will need.
