Yes ma'am, yes sir: good for all of us

I don't know how long it will work, but for now teaching Brady to say "Yes, ma'am" is really helpful for us. As soon as Brady says it, his behavior changes and he complies with whatever he's being asked to do without complaint or fit, or he stops doing whatever he's been asked to stop.

It seems to operate like a "code word" for him, at least at home, though I do think it has helped at school and after-school too. In fact I came up one day to after-school, a teacher told him something and clear as day he said, "Yes ma'am," and did it.

But what has amazed me the most is the feeling him saying "Yes, ma'am" creates in me. I fill up with a warmth at the sound of his respect and control, and it immediately deflates any frustration if he had been balking at doing something. And I kept telling him this. "Brady, it really makes me feel good to hear you say 'Yes, ma'am,'" to the point he finally told me in a very nice, soft, polite voice, "Mommy, I'm not trying to be rude but it's getting kind of annoying when you say that."

LOL! Okay, kid, I hear ya. Mom's gone on too long about it.

Now, I do have to remind him a lot. But when I do, he seems to embrace it.

I think he feels good when he says it too. It is such a gesture of respect and I'm grateful for his teacher for thinking of it.