Tuesday, March 22, 2011

No, No, No, No, No!

"No, no, no, no, no!" she repeated to her child. I looked up from my grocery shopping list to see a frazzled mom in the store trying to correct her wayward-behaving child. I'm glad she was involved, attentive, and trying to discipline. Good mom!

BUT, the problem was . . .

Hearing an tsunami of "nos" dilutes discipline. When you constantly say "No," your child tunes you out; or as psychologists say, "A constant stimulus loses effect." So your discipline is meaningless and you get frustrated.

Whether tots or teens, kids need to know they're always loved - even if their behavior is not. But remember to discipline with positive and different words so your correction has effect. Hey, call my show this morning 877-864-4869 with your discipline story, question, or comment. I'll be waiting on The Parent's Plate internet radio show!

2 comments:

Sue Adair said...

I couldn't agree more. Try telling your child what they can do instead of what they can’t!

Brenda Nixon, Author and Speaker said...

Thanks Sue! I know it's almost a knee jerk reaction to say, "No" when a tot goes for something dangerous or off-limits but, skillful parenting thinks proactively and tells the tot what to DO instead.