What is this? You haven't made your bed yet? I've told you three times already. Now get in here and make this bed.

Nagging. I don't think anybody enjoys it.

But then there's also its cousin, prodding.

Proding looks something like this. Don't forget, you'll be reciting your poem at co-op tomorrow. Be sure

to study it today so you'll be ready. And then later that day, have you studied your

poem for tomorrow? And then the next morning before you leave, are you ready to recite your poem?

Remember, you're reciting it today. Do you need to study it on the way? Now, some of us could argue that those are just

reminders. And if we're honest, we all depend on reminders to some extent. But when they are

carried to an extreme, those types of reminders, nagging and prodding, can encourage a habit of laziness.

The person you are reminding can become dependent on other people to get her up and doing

what she's responsible to do rather than taking that initiative herself.

Such a practice is hardly the recipe for success as an

adult. And that's why Charlotte Mason warned us against nagging and prodding and showed us a

better way. Welcome to the Simply Charlotte Mason podcast. I'm Sonia Schaefer.

Sometimes it's easy to think that Charlotte Mason was an extremist. Say something once and once only, don't ever say it again.

But as we discussed last time, that's not what Charlotte meant. Charlotte

was actually trying to warn us against going to an extreme, the extreme of repeating

ourselves so often that those reminders turn into nagging and prodding.

Check the description for a link to that episode on not repeating yourself.

The truth is, and Charlotte wrote this, we all prod and we all are prodded by others to some

extent.

That's just life together. We help each other and remind each

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