After my last post, I found myself humming 'Home on the Range'*. I still smile when I think of the child who wondered why 'seldom' was a discouraging word. This post, however, has more to do with another old song, one that went, 'You've got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative' (thinks, is 'got to' stronger than 'should'?)
For small children, it's good to put instructions and requests in the positive rather than the negative. Of course, accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative is something to apply widely. Even in fiction writing, putting sentences in the positive is preferred. Confession: I find this difficult. In actual life and in writing. Maybe the writing is easier because there it's all about revision. I can go back over my manuscript and look to see where I can switch.
I'm doing my best to train myself in real time. This is not an aspect of parenting I was aware of when my children were still at home, so they heard plenty of 'don't'. That must surely qualify as the most discouraging word ever!
Say, for instance, Curly Locks has settled down to draw. I tell him, 'Try and keep the paper flat and smooth', instead of 'Don't crumple the page'. Or 'Stay away from the road' when we're outside, rather than 'don't go on the road'.
I'm sure you'll easily find your own examples. And talking of giving instructions, less is more.
Now to add a small anecdote to my last post where I mentioned the German measles:
I asked my husband, 'What should we give the little one to eat?'
He answered, 'How about sausages and sauerkraut?'
*humming is good. Cats, apparently, renew their skeletons by their purring.
