Child discipline

Timeouts work well for us. Nothing hurts a 4-year-old like telling her she can't do anything but sit in a corner for 10 minutes.

My kids will never, ever have a TV in their rooms. I didn't have one, they aren't getting one. We only have one in the house. They get one hour per day to watch, and rarely use that.

 

I don't think Dad here meant 'agreeing' as in, 'we are waiting for her to agree.' I took it to mean she was still saying she wouldn't do it.

You just can't fight with a 7 year old, they fight dirty and you end up down on their level.  Don't engage in the fight she wants to have. 'You are doing this Saturday. If it's not done by whatever time on Saturday, we will remove the TV (or whatever). If it's not done by Sunday then X will happen.'

Then walk away and forget it. If she screws up, it's not the end of the world. She's a little kid. Save your spleen for when she's 16.

 

I too never had a TV in my room, but if my brother and I weren't outside goofing off or playing soccer/baseball, we were in the basement playing Nintendo or watching TV. My parents never went down there, so it was basically our TV anyway. I guess I just don't see a problem since my daughter rarely watches TV in her room.

 

Right, thanks for translating. There was no negotiating this ... she's gonna do it.

 

I got a TV in my room when I turned 13. My sister was the same way. We didn't get cable, just the basic channels. Neither of us ever watched it. The only reason why we had them was if Dad was watching some godawful program on the history channel and a sitcom we liked watching came on, we wouldn't whine to dad about not getting to watch our TV show.

 

the tv in the room thing is largely symbolic. our kids have a tv in their common room/den. but the no personal tv in their rooms, i contend, helps convey a general theme of non-entitlement. the sense of entitlement many kids have today is mind-blowing to me.

 

My only issue with the TV in the room thing is a product of the time we live in. Too much trash available on TV. And if there's a TV, the whining for the computer and Internet access will follow. And I hate the idea of my kids playing video games for hours on end. Fortunately, they're girls and less likely to do the video game thing.

I want my kids goofing off outside, as you say, or occupying their time with something meaningful like a book. Draw something. Have a tea party. Just stay away from the boob tube.

(Much of this explains why I am completely lost when pop-culture discussions get started on this board. I wouldn't know Kelly Clarkson if she fell on me.)

 

I'm with you. I wouldn't have known Kelly Clarkson if I'd fallen inside of her.

 

Yeah, it's all about explaining the facts to the kids.

If they won't obey after the explanations, then it's time to get out the boards with nails on the end.

 

I don't think "Timeouts" are bad, but they can be overused.

What's worse are parents who make idle threats, and the kids just know the parents won't follow through.

I'm not trying to implicate creole here -- so don't go there. What I'm getting at are the parents who, with all their bluster, yell at the kids for screwing up, but fail to follow through on their actions. Usually this happens a lot in malls, supermarkets and discount department stores.

PS -- This thread is useless without Rosie.

 

What would Supernanny do?