“I tried everything!”: Giving guidelines rather than prohibiting

We have already spoken , for very young children, of the trap of negative form, another point noted in the same book « J’ai tout essayé ! » (« I tried everything ! »)

Here, we speak of children that are a little older, but we follow the same idea: the message that gives the frame of authorizations is more efficient that that which prohibits.
In this direction  of thought, we will choose: “Here, we speak silently” rather than “Here, we don’t scream”.
(Hey, I will have to find another formulation of “we don’t hit” for Anatole…)

Or, in the case of the picture illustrating this post, in which I do have to tell him that he cannot touch it, I still focus on the positive, what we can do: “We can show with our finger without touching.”

It’s crazy how positivity can slip anywhere… In details…subtleties in language that change everything, and I have had the occasion of realizing this, even with other’s children…

And I noticed that this idea corresponded quite well to a general evolution the last time I was at the airport!