Discipline

"Raising children is an incredibly hard and risky business in which no cumulative wisdom is gained: each generation repeats the mistakes the previous one made." Bill Cosby

Amen! In my opinion, disciplining children is the most difficult thing a parent can do. I used to always say that my parents were strict and I wont be like that with my kids. But lo and behold....I have unknowingly become their carbon copy. What actually is the correct way to discipline kids, especially those that are young....like my 4 year old.

The traditional methods like hitting with your hand, or a stick seem barbaric, I know. But there are some moments wherein you lose all sense of judgment and your hand takes a life of its own and BAM, you smack your little ones bottom and all hell breaks loose. Between her wailing and your shouting, people will obviously think its a madhouse. After all the chaos, the end result is you feel guilty and like a terrible mother.

Method Two: Time Out...This method has also been tried and tested by me. My timeout involves putting my kid in a room and closing the door and keeping her there for a few minutes. I really don't' like this method, because many times, I literally have to drag my screaming kid to the room and once she is kept there, her bawling becomes so intense that I feel my ears going numb.

Shouting, scolding, threatening to throw her toys/book/ favorite dress, etc out the window....they all work only once in a while. After applying all these methods, the ultimate outcome, in my opinion, is increased blood pressure, throat infection, headache and stress.
Oh the joys of motherhood. If only fatherhood was this fun.