Question:
my children are usually very well behaved and i have never spanked them. i think you are talking about punishment not disipline. spanking is a short term resolution to a problem and it is probably much easier than consistantly setting firm guidelines and limits.for very young children, try a firm ‘no’, and remove the child from the situation. how can you teach a child that hitting is not acceptable when you resort to it?. i know how difficult parenting is, and there are times when i am extremely frustrated with my children, but i am the adult- the model for my children look to for appropriate behavior. please reconsider your stance on spanking, julie.
Response:
I have not heard it said any better. What you do as a parent sets a model for the behavior of your children. Think about what you want your children to be like before you do it. Remember the key to discipline is to look inward first. You cannot expect to control behavior in your children that you have not learned how to control in yourself. The next biggest problem in discipline is parental disagreement or lack of clear agreement. Mom and Dad MUST sit down and work out how they are going to approach their children as a team and then work as a team. It often doesn’t really matter what you do as long as what you do is done together and the children see very clearly that they cannot play one parent against another. Try going to http://www.ditell.com/~aspen for a selection of helpful articles you can download for free. Dr. Lee Burnham Rocky Mountain Center for Human Development
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