When to change your disciplinary methods – 5 sure signs



Photo credit: cnc1mc.blogspot.com



Wonder Woman, Batman, Fantastic 4… What do you have in common with these fictional Superheroes? You are super too. Sometimes in being super, we forget that we are only human. When it comes to disciplining the kids how successful do you think you are?

Grab a cup of coffee (or a diet coke) as we glide through our journey of parenting through the alphabet. This week we have approached the letter “D”. Let’s ponder for a minute, the question of “discipline.” How can you tell when it may be time to change your disciplinary tactics?

If you have experienced any of the 5 scenarios below (or anything similar) you just might need to tweak your best practices in discipline:

1.      You count your child down when giving him a task to complete; “Move your shoes out of the middle of the floor. You have three seconds- 3-2-1.” However your child is 11 years old. He’s counting with you. Not effective.

2.      You tell your child repeatedly to go to bed, but she keeps getting up. Exhausted after a long day, you fall into bed. She ends up tucking you in.

3.      You tell your child to clean his room or you’re going to take away his video game, but you get busy and never go back to see if it’s done.

4.      You use your spouse as a secret weapon – “If you don’t get that done now, I’m going to get daddy to help you and he won’t be as nice as I am.”

5.      Your child eats cereal for dinner after you told her eat the healthy meal you worked so hard to prepare.

During times when I am feeling tired, I let my guard down and I don’t follow through with the discipline I set in place. My super powers start to fail. It’s like kryptonite is somewhere near and I…just…can’t….move.

I’ve learned that when the discipline isn’t working for the kids, I need to take a break, recharge and look at things with a fresh eye. The next time a disciplinary situation arises I will get out my Wonder Woman lasso, my Batman utility belt and whatever the Fantastic Four use. Maybe all of these things together will give me strength to follow through.

How do you handle discipline with the kids?