| Children always seem to find a way to 'push our | | | | and understood in advance so that children know |
| buttons' at times and really try our patience. It's | | | | what they have coming when they've |
| easy to feel irritated, sad, angry, annoyed, | | | | misbehaved and can give pause and hopefully |
| confused and hurt. It's at these times when our | | | | choose an appropriate route to avoid it. And |
| parenting skills are really tested, and that it's | | | | most importantly, remember that it's not the child |
| imperative we maintain a kind but firm stance | | | | you dislike; it's his or her chosen behavior, action |
| when it comes to doling out the discipline. And | | | | or misdeed. |
| let's face it - none of us ever want to hurt our | | | | If you need to, give yourself a brief 'time out' |
| child with physical or verbal abuse. We want to | | | | before responding with appropriate discipline. |
| teach our child that such things are wrong, and | | | | Sometimes we need a short cooling off period |
| punishing a misdeed or inappropriate action by | | | | before dealing with our children's misdeeds in |
| yelling or hitting is hypocritical at best. | | | | order to avoid a misdeed of our own. Yelling and |
| Our goal when disciplining our children is to teach | | | | hitting should never be an option. |
| them to be responsible, cooperative, kind and | | | | Keep an open mind as a parent, and be willing to |
| respectful. The best way to teach this is to | | | | learn with and from your child. We all make |
| always remain consistent, follow through with the | | | | mistakes and it's important to realize that not |
| same punishment for the same misdeed, and to | | | | every form of discipline works with every child. |
| discuss the discipline with your child openly and | | | | Children are just as unique as adults are, and |
| honestly afterwards. | | | | forms of discipline should be tailored to fit the |
| Always keep in mind that the age, maturity level, | | | | individual needs of both parent and child. But with |
| and temperament of your child should always be | | | | a little forethought, patience, firmness, love and |
| considered when enforcing a set disciplinary | | | | understanding, the discipline can have a positive |
| action. Disciplinary actions should be discussed | | | | outcome for all involved. |