DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM WITH PHONE OR TABLET 12 CHAPTER 1 of good manners, review and help them practice the skills, and then praise them when they successfully remember to use manners without a reminder. When children exhibit behavior that we perceive as disrespectful, we have an opportunity to teach about respect. We may feel angry, but we can turn situations around by modeling respect and giving children the vocabulary and actions they need to communicate respect in return. For example, when a child makes the demand “Gimme juice,” we can respond by simply and respectfully stating that we expect her to use polite words at the table, and wait until she says or signs “please” before giving her the juice. Responsibility Responsibility is the state of being personally accountable for and trusted to ac- complish something. Most people vividly remember the exciting moments of being entrusted with our first adult responsibilities—​perhaps being allowed to take the family car or accepting a first paying job or receiving a promotion to a management position. We recall how much pride and excitement we felt to know that we were trusted and deemed worthy of such responsibilities. Being granted responsibility often fuels one to feel more capable and to strive to excel or grow in one’s abilities. In the same way, children can experience a level of excitement and pride when they are given responsibility for age-​appropriate tasks and chores. The seeds of accepting and embracing responsibility are planted in the first years through having opportunities to carry out simple, developmentally appropriate tasks. A baby can be given the simple task of holding a clean diaper while being changed. A one-​year-​old can have the job of hanging his coat on a child-​height peg. By age two, children can be assigned very simple chores, like helping to pick up toys, feeding pets, and putting dirty clothes into hampers. Just like adults, young children experience great satisfaction and pride in completing jobs. Children also experience a sense of being “in control” and a measure of independence, an extremely positive experience for toddlers and twos. Yes, an adult can do the job faster and much more efficiently, but if we constantly do everything for children, they miss opportunities to develop their own sense of responsibility. As young children get older, they benefit greatly from experi- encing gradual increases in responsibility. Self-​Discipline Self-​discipline is the ability to control one’s behavior, respect rules, pursue and achieve goals, stick with difficult challenges, resist problematic temptations, COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL