“Never promise more than you can perform.” (Publilius Syrus)

Simple, right? If you promise to take your daughter for ice cream after dinner, you take her for ice cream. She sees that you can be trusted, and all is well in the world.

Of course, it’s a lot easier when what you’ve promised is something fun for both of you. The trick is to follow through on ALL your promises — not just the pleasant ones.

Empty threats are really broken promises. Don’t tell your child (or your spouse or your employees) you’re going to do something and then fail to do it. They might act relieved if you back down from a consequence, but you’re doing them a disservice by confusing things. This will only make the next encounter with discipline that much harder for everyone.