Quote:
Originally Posted by TalnSG
I see it twice a day, 5 days a week on my way to work. There is a beautiful and smart child between 3 & 4 yrs old who becomes an uncontrollable monster the minute she doesn't get her way, or people don't dote on her - even strangers. Her mother fusses at her, but always loses the arguement. Those of us who recognize the pattern would dearly love lay a paddle across the child's butt and shake up her world before it is too late. I dread what this girl will be like by the time she is teenager.
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It doesn`t have to be spanking - and I kind of dislike it when people bring up spanking and paddling as the end-all tactic to deal with stuff... Because it isn`t. You just need consistent discipline.
A parent should not be losing an argument with a 3 or 4 year old.
If the kid is smart, they`re capable of understanding why they are in trouble. Even my own son, who is FAR from smart can understand at the very least that he has done something he should not have if told so.
Anyway - I do think Yuujirou brought up a good point. Respect for parents. I have noticed that some parents discipline for their own convenience. Even if the kid isn`t doing something wrong, they`re punished because it`s easier for the parent to stop the action than respond constructively to it. I think it is also pretty common for the parent to scold the child for something the parent regularly does. Kids are yelled at to apologize to a parent or peer, or snapped at for making a mistake... But how often do parents apologize to their own kids when THEY make a mistake? For some reason that always annoyed me. My mother would laugh at me, yell at me, never forget and bring it up later for amusement, etc if I made some kind of mistake or did something incorrectly... But if she did something negative to me, not only would she not apologize to me she would literally scream at me if I pointed it out. Sure, it was probably obnoxious for me to point out the mistake/incorrect actions of an adult, but the response seriously lowered any respect.
If I were walking down the hallway and bumped into her or stepped on her foot, I`d get a scream fest for not looking where I was going... But if I were standing and she bumped into me knocking me down or making me spill something... It would again be totally my fault for not seeing her coming and getting out of the way.
It`s hard to teach a child to be respectful of you and others if you`re an awful person in front of them or to them on a regular basis.
I really like how if my son does something accidentally to hurt me or something, he`ll apologize to me... And if I do the same, I apologize to him... And we will say "It`s okay." and we`ll hug.