Kid Trick - Mean what you say!

I came across an interesting article today basically reinstating some common sense knowledge that we should all should know, but may not always practice.

Idle threats, hypothetical situations, ideas that are still in their formulation and incubation period, thinking out loud-all of these can be a parent's downfall. I know that we're not perfect and I have done my share of saying all sorts of things in the heat of the moment (or the heat of the battle) that I didn't mean-but I did learn from those old parenting television programs that our kids are smarter and more clever than we give them credit for. They know very early if we mean what we say or not, and if they get the message that we only say what we mean, we have more authority and credibility-and our children feel more secure and less likely to act out.(parenting.families.com)

Sound advice all around, dealing with kids or not. It is something so easy to forget, even if you have it in mind all the time. Empty warnings are a big no no in our house. We have a system where we ask our daughter three times, and if she does not listen on the third time, it's time out no questions asked, and it works very well. What I did not count on though is idle conversation. Such as talking to my DH about taking our daughter somewhere after we eat. She hears "pool" or "park" etc.. and she goes nuts until we go! If something comes up where we can't go, then it's a huge disappointment. She's still to young to grasp the concept of a hypothetical situation. Just remember, everything we say is absorbed by our children.