Wanna participate in Monday Madness?
1. Do you feel that children these days are disciplined enough?
I don’t think we can make generalizations about this. Some are discipline just right, some not enough, and some incorrectly.
2. What are your thoughts about the “time out chair?”
I think it is a very useful tool that I use with my children and those under my care (Girl Guides.) It gives the child and adult involved a few moments to sort out their thoughts about what has transpired and how they are feeling before talking with one another. Time outs can help stop yelling and hurtful words that aren’t truly meant but are said in the heat of the moment. Time outs are best used in a place other than the bedroom so that they do not associate bad feelings with the place they sleep. If it’s a child too young to stay still, use a playpen in another room, not the crib.
3. When YOU were a child, what form of discipline did your parents use most often?
I remember being sent to my room a lot, a few times standing or sitting in the corner and once I had soap in my mouth for saying bad words. I was grounded once in my entire life (but then I was pretty obedient.)
4. Did your parents have to constantly remind you of the guidelines they set for you, or did they just have to LOOK at you as a “gentle” reminder?
As I said I was pretty obedient and did what I was told. Neither one of them had a look that told me to sharpen up though, I had to be told what I was doing wrong and how to change it.
5. What are your thoughts about screaming kids in public places?
It’s loud! LOL. Although sometimes, kids who scream in public haven’t been taught or discipline properly, mostly it’s just a thing that all kids too until they realize what is and isn’t appropriate behaviour. We criticize the mother who’s child is having a tantrum in the grocery store but then it is our turn and we get the stares from other parents. You know you’re not a bad mother so why do we assume the other mother is?
6. What do you feel is the BIGGEST mistake parents make when it comes to disciplining children?
Not following through with consequences. If you say, “If you hit one more time you will have your TV taken away,” and he hits one more time, you HAVE to take the TV away. By the same token, don’t make a threat you can’t follow through on. If you don’t follow through, your child notices fast and will play you, knowing you are just making empty threats.
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