Parenting win-ish

’Good job mummy. Well done!'

It’s nice to get some validation.
We know our parenting tactics are working when things get easier, the kids start doing things the way we’d like without us asking quite so many times. Sometimes they start echoing our language. Instead of saying Boy is a good boy because he’s done something that conveniences us, or that he’s done a good job putting that block in a box, we say thank you if he does something for us, and note his helpfulness.
‘Cos that’s totally different.
He is picking this up. We can not only hear it when he screams ‘I DON’T WANT TO BE HELPFUL!!’, but also when he talks to his sister sometimes:

Boy: We home now. I will read you Thomas the Tank Engine, but you have to be helpful.
Justababy: [cries]
Boy: No. That's not helpful

It is a bit much, really, telling a kid he’s done a good job putting his shoes on, or whatever. It’s hardly rocket science. The Boy gets this, I think. He has a wicked sense of humour.

Boy: What are houses made of?
Daddy: [sigh] Jelly.
Boy: [pauses to consider] Yes, that’s right! Well done daddy.