Of course, your child may not fully understand the “Yes-When deal” that you offer. No problem! There are plenty of ways to make “Yes-When” deals developmentally appropriate for even very young children or children who do not yet understand your words. Just use “Show-and-Tell Scaffolding:
For example, “Yes you can have the cookie when you sit on the chair”:
Use Hand-Over-Hand prompting: leave the cookie on the table and then carry your child over to the chair.
Use Demonstration: sit on the chair and eat a cookie to demonstrate compliance with the rule
Use Gestures: point to the cookie, bring the cookie to chair, then point to the chair
Use Verbal Instructions: for example, say, “Yes you can have the cookie, when you sit on the chair.”
Congratulations you have just taught your child that a cookie is not a RIGHT, but rather a PRIVILEGE that must be earned.
