Tag: Discliplining Kids

We’re going to have dinner now, okay?

Brush your teeth, okay?

Get down! Okay?

The new 4-letter word in parenting: okay. I’m serious. No it’s not going to harm your child in the way uttering f*ck or sh#t will and certainly if your kid mimics you on the playground no one will be giving you the stink eye, but believe you me that saying “okay” over and over again tells your child that you, the parent, are NOT the boss.

It tells your kid that he is the boss because you are asking for his permission.

When I first became a parent, I realized that I had to erase OK from my repertoire. Truly, I was an abuser. It was my way of Read more…

After spending some time with my extended family (there were a lot of kids and a lot of parents), I’m wondering – is it ever OK to parent other people’s kids? Have you ever found yourself in a situation where another child was acting up either around your child or directly harming your child?

Picture this: your toddler is playing with an older kid and the older child starts to rough house with your tot, not hurting him but still it could get out of hand quickly. What do you do?

I watched this happen in my family. Here’s the gist. My sister scolded one of the cousins for taking a colored pencil away from another cousin (younger). The older kid then proceeded to make fun of the younger one’s drawing. Now, keep in mind that both kids are young and not little Michaelangelos, so the mocking was more spiteful than anything.

My sister stepped in and sternly explained that Suzie was drawing and to give her pencil back. Further, she reminded Jack that he was once Suzie’s age and that he, too, couldn’t hold a pencil when he was younger. In fact, ALL kids have to start somewhere and drawing was about practicing.

I was thoroughly impressed with my sister’s ability to diffuse the situation while still imposing some semblance of right from wrong, respect, and tolerance on both kids. In all, in my book, she did what I would want to do. If the cousin being scolded was my child (it wasn’t and I would tell you if it was) her lesson is what I would want my kid to take away from that situation.

But that’s just me. My sis got scolded herself from the parent of the scolded kid. Talk about no good deed going unpunished.

It got me to thinking, though. Was it a indeed a good deed? You tell me. Maybe she was just a “buttinski” and she should have let the children work it out. I mean, nothing was hurtful other than words. Is it right to step in when you see a situation that could get out of hand?

photo credit: ♥Rose_khansg♥