Instructions
The length of an instruction decides whether it gets followed
Adults average eleven words when asking a child to do something. Most of those words arrive after the child has stopped listening.
August 26, 2026 · 6 min read
What counting to three is actually doing
The count is not a threat. It is a delay, and the delay is the part that works.
August 5, 2026 · 4 min read
Children track pitch before they track words
Lowering your voice changes compliance more reliably than raising it — and the reason has nothing to do with being calm.
June 11, 2026 · 5 min read
Two options work. Three start an argument.
Offering a choice raises cooperation, but only inside a range narrow enough that every answer is one you can live with.
May 19, 2026 · 6 min read
Children who ignore you at home often comply at school
The difference is rarely the child, and it is not usually discipline either.
October 21, 2025 · 6 min read
Too many choices is its own kind of pressure
Offering options helps until the child is the one running the household.
April 24, 2025 · 4 min read
Three instructions at once is one instruction and two you will repeat
Stacking feels efficient. It is the single most common way a request fails.
November 27, 2024 · 4 min read