American in Spain

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

May 19, 2011

Happy Birthday, Grandpa (video thumbnail)I spent a good part of my morning today trying to get my daughter to say "Happy birthday, Grandpa". For the longest time, when I told her to say "happy", she would shake her head and say "No!" It was appropriate, then, that my eventual success came by way of using behavior modification techniques my father taught me. I told her that if she wouldn't say "happy", then I would walk away and ignore her. I did this once, coming back a minute later to ask if she'd like to say "happy" and make me stay. She did, and I heaped praise on her. To add the second word, I had to temporarily abandon her once more in punishment. When I came back, she was happy to say the entire phrase to keep me in the room. I assume this is how Steven Spielberg directs his films, too. Happy birthday, Dad. I hope you like the video.