Close to Home by John McPherson for September 23, 2009

  1. Emerald
    margueritem  about 15 years ago

    Dave, another fool in the role of parent…

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  2.   golden loops
    LittleYipScream  about 15 years ago

    Ryan must be one scary brat.

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  3. Text if you d like to meet him
    Yukoneric  about 15 years ago

    Walk off, the kid will quit screaming.

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  4. Wickedcrazy
    WickedCrazy  about 15 years ago

    Nimrod!

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  5. Evenstar
    Trisha_Evenstar  about 15 years ago

    boarding school till he’s 18

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  6. Turkey2
    MisngNOLA  about 15 years ago

    Medical experiments for the litte bugger I say.

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  7. Mer rover small 02
    treBsdrawkcaB  about 15 years ago

    We all seem to be expressing the same frustration! We’re surrounded with people who have NO CLUE how to parent their children and so, rather than risking a little conflict, they kowtow to the child’s every whim, making him/her the Supreme Ruler of the family - and thus teaching him that he/she ALWAYS gets his/her way and can use manipulation and threats to ensure that they stay in power. Adult life then has some VERY rude awakenings in store for them.

    Tantrums are the child’s DESPERATE PLEA for you show - lovingly - that YOU, THE PARENT, are the authority in the family and to correct inappropriate, rude, selfish and sometimes even evil behavior so that it does not become part of their character. Discipline with love! This proves to the child that you love them but reinforces that the rules have to be obeyed. If you just knee-jerk react out of anger, the child doesn’t learn the right lessons (“sometimes Dad can be an ogre…”). We wonder how come SO MANY of today’s children are selfish, arrogant, pig-headed, violent, demanding little terrorists in training!

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  8. Mer rover small 02
    treBsdrawkcaB  about 15 years ago

    …And, yes twright64, sometimes it comes to that. But you do so explaining to the child beforehand that, “I’m so very sorry that YOU HAVE SPECIFICALLY ASKED ME TO PUNISH YOU through your disobedience! I would love to just have good, pleasant times with you but WHEN YOU BREAK THE RULES, YOU MUST PAY THE PENALTY OF THE CONSEQUENCES!”. The biggest challenge is to then be consistent! EVERY time they break the rules, the consequences have to be the same or even more severe so that “it just isn’t worth it” to try to break the rules anymore. The discipline has to be SO unpleasant that, the next time they’re tempted to break the rules, it reminds them of what is in store for them if they do and they make the WISE decision NOT TO.

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  9. Foxhound1
    bald  about 15 years ago

    yeah brat, for that tantrum there will be no ice cream until after dinnier

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  10. Coffee turtle avatar
    coffeeturtle  about 15 years ago

    oh! the insanity! :-)

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  11. Smiley tongue
    Smiley Rmom  about 15 years ago

    I agree with what treBsdrawkcaB said! My (now 20 year old) son, when he was about 2, and not talking yet, would bite people. Every time he did it when I was around, I would march to where I kept the paddle, and spank his upper thigh. (Otherwise, I would have had to remove the diaper, because it was obvious that he needed more than just a sound effect.) It got to the point where he’d bite me, and then run to point at the paddle. (Which I kept on top of a wall-mounted clock - too high for him to reach even with a chair.) He knew Mom would spank him for that offense, and I did. Now he is a fine, trustworthy, young gentleman.

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  12. Missing large
    LindaTea  about 15 years ago

    I always found the counting method helped; “If you don’t… by the time I count to …, I will … “. FOLLOW THROUGH FIRMLY and they learn “Mom’s counting; she must be serious!

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  13. Elephants
    lfanterickson  about 15 years ago

    I used to count DOWN from however long I wanted to give the child to obey. They learn fairly soon that there are numbers after 5, but it takes longer to learn there are numbers below zero.

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  14. Tif whatifucan
    Ashrey  about 15 years ago

    What we parents do and no, we’re not fools, Marg.

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