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To: Kackikat
My son was strong willed, and I remember a fit he pitched in a grocery store, and I walked away to check out....he followed. No audience, no fit.

Brilliant, that is the way to do it! You know how to parent!

I was blessed with having a really easy child. I was a very young mom (barely out of my teens) and luckily she was always so happy, so polite and respectful. Around 2 she did start with temper tantrums. We tried "time out" but that worked for about three weeks, as it was only a game to her, and truthfully, it was a STUPID way to handle a problem, especially now when I see my sisters trying to correct their toddler sons. It's a joke.

Maybe I'm old-school, but a firm swat on the tush was all it took to discipline (and this was just a handful of times).

One time and one time only my daughter tried to act out in public. I was shopping for a swimsuit in a store and my daughter got bored and lied down on the floor. She started banging her head on the floor and screaming. People turned as you could hear the thuds. It was embarrassing for a mere second, until I realized I had to handle this situation. I looked at her and said, "Fine, you want to act this way, I am leaving here in this store forever. You can stay here. Goodbye." And I walked away. In the next second, she bounced up, apologized profusely and begged me not to leave and promised to behave. That was the one and only time she ever acted up in public. Be the leader and children will respect that. Be a vegetable and children will run all over you.

After that, when she wasn't getting her way at home, she'd play "very dead" and lie on the floor, eyes closed. "Good grief," I thought, "This is what she does now? A bit macabre, but I love it!" I'd walk over her, do my things, and then after a few minutes, she'd get up and whatever she was upset about was forgotten.

It helped that I was never kind of mom who ignored her kid. I hated that as a child, when my mother would have a conversation with other adults, she completely ignored us kids when we'd approach her. I see other parents do this all the time. They're perfectly content to have a conversation (usually something inane about curtains or the new addition on the house or the best prices for apple juice) while their toddler goes: "Mommy,Mommy,Mommy,Mommy,Mommy,Mommy,Mommy,Mommy,Mommy." Half the time, I would get fed up and ask the kid what he wanted. Usually it was something as basic as "I need to go to the bathroom."

If a person was having a conversation with an adult, and another adult wanted to join in the conversation, would that person be ignored or shouted at: "Can't you see I'm talking to someone else? Wait your turn!"

I never understood that. Generally, if I was already involved in a conversation and my daughter had something to say, I would wait for her to ask "Please mommy," and then I would listen to her. Usually it was something as simple as needing to go potty or she was thirsty. I don't understand parents who feel that listening to their children is spoiling them somehow. I treated my child as a person--a child, yes, but not an inferior human. Be a leader and be respectful and be firm. That's how you parent.

121 posted on 08/08/2014 9:43:16 AM PDT by two134711
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To: two134711

We must respect children’s needs to communicate, and I too hate it when adults ignore their children. No one is a perfect parent but we can see, if we are open to observe, what works and what doesn’t....and pass it on.


123 posted on 08/08/2014 2:03:15 PM PDT by Kackikat (ELECTED officials took an OATH...Time to honor it....be a Patriot.)
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