Recently, I was talking to a few parents about this prospect of how do we get our kids to do the things that they’re supposed to do.

 
How do you get them to brush their teeth, or put on their pajamas, or whatever their daily tasks are?
One parent said that every time they get annoyed, they start taking away their kids’ things, giving them consequences and discipline. Another parent said that they try to bribe them and give them treats every time they do the right thing.
I think that those are two extremes and there’s a middle ground. We don’t want our kids doing things because they’re scared of the consequences, and we don’t want them doing the right thing because they’re being bribed. We want them to do the right thing because they want to, and because they care about themselves and their lives. So the idea is to give them things that they want to earn. By being good, doing the right thing, they will eventually get to earn their TV time, or their toy, or whatever. But they’re earning it, we’re not bribing them for it.