Love and Logic

Dear Jason,

After returning from shopping, Dad discovered that his ten-year-old son, Tony, had a new music CD. It was later revealed that Tony had shoplifted.

Dad immediately took his son back to the store and met with the store's assistant manager so that Tony could confess his actions and return the merchandise. To Dad's dismay, the manager let Tony off easy.

"Ah, Tony, that's ok. You're a cute kid for confessing like that. You better watch it in the future. You could get into big trouble for shoplifting."

As you can guess, Tony learned nothing from the incident and stole two more CD's the following month.

Dad learned his lesson. Don't take a chance. Call ahead. Dad called the manager saying, "Your assistant manager let Tony off the hook last time. Please make this very uncomfortable for Tony." Dad and the manager made a plan.

The manager made Tony wait on a chair outside his office for over an hour. After that he gave Tony choices: dealing with the police or paying a fine and spending three hours holding a sign at the entrance. It was a sign that said, "SHOPLIFTING IS UNLAWFUL."

Tony chose the fine and spent his next Saturday morning standing out in the cold with his sign. In addition to the $50 fine, Tony had to pay for the CD's, which was a bitter pill for him to swallow after discovering that he didn't even like the music after hearing his CD's.

Dad Uses the Energy Drain Technique
Dad picked Tony up after his sign-holding morning with, "Wow, Tony, you look beat. We'd better get you home for some lunch."

On the way home he added, "Now that this is over, you need to know that I've spent a lot of time, energy, and worry on it. I didn't get to do some of my household jobs. Think it over tonight, and let me know which of my jobs you'd like to do to replace my energy."

Listen to Love and Logic Magic When Kids Drain Your Energy and master the art of using the "Energy Drain Technique." Repetition is the key to learning, so keep the CD in your car and listen frequently. And, it doesn't hurt if the kids hear it. The beauty of Love and Logic is that even if the kids know what you're doing, they can't do anything about it.

Thanks for reading! Our goal is to help as many families as possible. If this is a benefit, forward this article to a friend.

Jim Fay