All children misbehave at times. When you were growing up, you did too. If you’ve forgotten all the times you talked back, didn’t listen, or spitefully did exactly what you were told not to do, just ask your parents or some other relative what you were like as a child.
Since it’s perfectly normal for your son, daughter or grandchild to sometimes pay no attention to what you say, want her to do or not do, etc. you will need some strategies for punishing her. Here are some suggestions to make your punishment result in making a youngster of any age get better rather than get even.
1. Don’t wait too long to do the punishing. For example, don’t wait until another adult in the family, Dad, Mom, a grandparent, etc. comes home to either do the punishing or decide on what should be done. If too much time has gone by between the bad behavior and your response to it, your child, especially a young one, could easily forget what she did wrong.
2. Don’t continually threaten that “the next time you do that …the next time you do that” you’ll be punished. How many next times will you continue to warn her about but never follow through? If you constantly threaten to take action but never do, your son or daughter is no dummy. She learns that you don’t say what you mean or mean what you say.
A word of warning!. While timing is important, try not to deal with a misbehaving child until you’re calm enough to do it. Try slowly counting backwards from thirty to zero or walking into another room a few times and then back again before taking action. It can often provide the pause that refreshes your wise judgment and common sense in how t ofirmly but fairly handle the offender.
In the next blog I’ll give a few more “crime and punishment” examples for dealing with misbehaving children. Do you have any other ways for punishing children that have worked for you?
Please share them with other parents by writing me at: Dr.LonnieC@gmail.
No comments:
Post a Comment