The Art of Disciplining

I am not saying beat your children. Leaving bruises is no bueno people. If popping works for you more power to you. Sometimes it’s effective other times it’s not. I do believe that a disciplined child is worth his or her weight in gold. Kids that are mindful and respectful are so few and far between these days. It’s sad. What’s sadder is that parents want to be friends and not parents. Here are some things I have done/do bc although we are strict and have rules, popping is not always our go to.

The get-a-long shirt. My boys are at that age. Sometime they just like to fight. I let it go until it becomes violent. I put them in one of PaPa’s t-shirts, facing each other, and give them a task in which they must work together to achieve. Super effective.

Take away points from their earnings on the chore chart. This means they have to do more to earn the much anticipated treasure box trip! I will write another day about the chore chart. Taking away something they see as tangible is effective.

You've heard the saying "Hold your tongue!" Well I have made Madman do it-literally. He talked back once in a very ugly ugly way so I made him stick out his tongue and hold it between his two fingers. He has since rethought the whole talking back thing, for now anyway.

I let them have temper tantrums or random meltdowns. I tell MO, I mean whoever, to go to his room to continue his fit. He isn't allowed to come out and has to keep crying and screaming for 10 minutes. Ten minutes is an awfully long time, and it's no fun if your parents tell you to cry.

Goes with above but I have mimicked him. It normally ends in him laughing and calling me silly and then we hug it out.

Madman has been licked before. WTF you say? Seriously it embarrass them bc it’s weird and when you explain your were embarrassed by whatever they did, they relate AND REMEMBER.

Follow through… We have many times said, that’s it when you get home it’s the time out spot for you or whatever. Even if they shape themselves up when we get home whatever punishment was imposed is enforced.

We have a time out spot. Worked better when they were younger but the threat is still real and makes them stop and listen.

We do not warn over and over and over and over again. Come on…. Obviously your kid doesn’t listen or isn’t getting it. DO SOMETHING.

We always ask the boys after being punished if they understand WHY they were punished. We talk about it, explain things. We tell them it doesn’t mean we don’t love them and that they aren’t “bad.” We don’t say bad. We say made the wrong choice or something to that effect. We have some pretty amazingly obedient boys and I am proud to say it is because they are disciplined. They aren’t afraid of us. They trust us whole heartily and know without a doubt that they are irrevocably loved. So discipline isn’t a bad and scary thing. Life is full of consequences to actions and the little people in our lives need to learn that.