I present two options. If my kid doesn’t pick one of those two options, either by not responding or by requesting a third thing, I’m picking one of the two options for him. And I’m always picking what he’s least likely to want.
I had to do a variant of this with my now wife. She never wanted to pick restaurants, so I’d suggest something i was okay with but knew she hated. She got a lot more willing to give her opinions after a few years. Now we can discuss it like equals instead of me making the decision all the time.
A friend of mine does that for group lunches. If everyone is humming and hawing about where to go, he’ll suggest McDonald’s. This reduces the threshold of making suggestions significantly for the others, because they no longer need to find a great place. They only need to come up with somewhere better than McDonald’s.
I’m not a total asshole: After he’s had his “oh shit” moment I give him one more chance to choose. He’s usually a lot better at picking one of the two options on his second try.
I present two options. If my kid doesn’t pick one of those two options, either by not responding or by requesting a third thing, I’m picking one of the two options for him. And I’m always picking what he’s least likely to want.
I had to do a variant of this with my now wife. She never wanted to pick restaurants, so I’d suggest something i was okay with but knew she hated. She got a lot more willing to give her opinions after a few years. Now we can discuss it like equals instead of me making the decision all the time.
A friend of mine does that for group lunches. If everyone is humming and hawing about where to go, he’ll suggest McDonald’s. This reduces the threshold of making suggestions significantly for the others, because they no longer need to find a great place. They only need to come up with somewhere better than McDonald’s.
So parents can be assholes too.
I’m not a total asshole: After he’s had his “oh shit” moment I give him one more chance to choose. He’s usually a lot better at picking one of the two options on his second try.