Consistency Makes a Difference

"Well, what did your mother say?"

Conversations with my father when I was young often started with him asking that question.  Do your kids ever go to someone else until they get the response they hope for?  You know how it goes...

"Mom, can I have friends over to play on Saturday?"

"No, I'm sorry.  Remember, we are working as a family to clean up the flower beds.  Maybe you can have friends over next week, however."

"But Mom..."

"Oh honey, it will be fine.  If we work together we might be able to finish early and go to the park."

10 minutes later...

"Dad, can I have my friends over on Saturday?"

At the risk of bragging, my parents were brilliant "parent tacticians" because they always responded the same.  I stopped even asking to do things I knew I should not have asked because they always replied in the same way:  "What did Mom say?"  "What did Dad say?"  Sometimes they mixed it up and  said, "Let's go talk with Dad about that."  Or, "I'm not sure right now.  Let me talk with Mom, and we'll get back to you."

The consistency and "team" my parents offered helped shape me into the person I am today.  I am so grateful to see this in so many families at my school.  Consistency makes a difference in many aspects of our lives.

It is sad, however, when a child learns to manipulate his/her parents because the parents are not consistent.  Children keep looking for loving limits, but this can become very negative--quickly.

Our school is in the process of implementing more consistent language around behavior.  We are the Novi Wildcats, so we are slowly teaching students to "Lead with PAWS."  We expect students to:

• Practice Kindness
• Act Safely
• Work Together
• Show Respect

Over the next several months our students will explicitly learn what PAWS looks like in our school.  They will better understand what PAWS means in the hallway, the cafeteria, the playground, and classrooms.  To kick this off we even have a PAWS song which is sung to the tune of Buddy Holly's "It's So Easy to Fall in Love."

It's so easy to lead with PAWS!
It's so easy to lead with PAWS!
We're a group that's on the move.
Getting better is our groove!

We practice kindness (practice kindness) -ooh, ooh, ooh

And act safely (act safely) -ooh, ooh, ooh

Work together (work together) -ooh, ooh, ooh

We show respect (show respect) FOREVER!

It's so easy to lead with PAWS!

It's so easy to lead with PAWS!

It's exciting to help our students become even better leaders, and one way to do that is by providing consistency.  Consistency makes a difference.