Muffins with Mom – Discipline without tears

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Completing chores can sometimes be a challenge for teens and their parents.

Have you ever struggled with disciplining your child? Perhaps you disciplined your child then felt like you may have been too harsh. On the other hand, maybe you felt you were not firm enough.

I’ve come across a couple of books titled, Discipline without Tears. My first thought was, is this book referring to the tears of the parent? I don’t have an answer because I have not read the book. However, I’m learning to discipline without tears, whining and kicking and screaming…by  me.

Do you want to know my secret to effective discipline (of a teen)? Beat him at his own game. You may know of a teen who has selective hearing or responds slowly when asked to complete a task. A good example is my teen son who can hear me quite well if we’re discussing money or his wanting to go somewhere with friends.

When asked to do chores, my son’s hearing lessens and he seems to become immobile. Just last week when I asked my son to empty a wastebasket, it took him five days to complete the task. It was like playing a game of chess.

I moved the wastebasket out of the bathroom and into the hallway, as a hint to my son. He walked around it for a day. The next day, I moved the basket outside of his bedroom door. He moved it to my door.

After a few days the wastebasket finally made it to the kitchen, where it sat another day before being emptied into big basket. Whew!

Figuratively speaking, I’ve given up on shedding tears over discipline. I told my son that I’ve found a new way to handle discipline with him. I will talk to him…constantly. He has told me that I often take a long time to explain something, then I keep talking. So, that’s my secret.

I will talk to my son until he tires of hearing me talk. My talking will consist of long run-on sentences with no pauses, no catching my breath, just continual talking, jumping from subject to subject, with no end in sight; kind of like this sentence!

My son laughed at my form of discipline for him, but when I put it into action, it worked. As I talked to him non-stop, he jumped up from playing his video game and rushed to complete the task I asked. I was firm and not harsh and I didn’t regret how I handled the situation.

Disclaimer – not all disciplinary situations are resolved this easily.

What is your form of discipline without tears?