Raychel and the Art of Discipline

A mother's love liberates. -- Maya Angelou

A child misbehaving around their parents is not a new story. This fact is universal. Now that Raychel has hit her 1^st birthday milestone, she is starting to show these unpleasant yet normal misbehaviours. I must teach her to listen and obey our authority. Now, where lies the rub is how?

I begin to investigate from literature from child psychologists, parenting podcasts, medical websites and articles and I'm happy to know there's a vast database of quicks tips and suggestions on the art of child disclipline. Like a sponge, I absorb this content all in. And the most important tip I discovered through my research reflects my parenting method perfectly.

One major aspect in doing so is reminding yourself about the normal growth and developmental stages and keeping them in mind to avoid frustration on everyone’s part. For example, “Toddlers have short memories. You may need to tell a toddler a rule over and over again”. I swear we tell her to not put her hair elastics in her mouth over 20 times a day (even after we put them out of sight or are in a ponytail) yet she still has the need to suck on them. Or to not lift the toilet seat up. It seems like any sentence with the word “no” in it she doesn’t comprehend.

One thing I know that is sometimes a common practice but I will do everything I can to avoid this method is Physical discipline such as spanking, biting, shaking. Grey Bruce Public Health explains that “parents often use physical discipline as a last resort, when they are angry or frustrated. Research shows that physical discipline can lead to unintentional injury, damage to your child’s self-esteem, and increased risk of poor adult outcomes (such as deliquency)”.

If you’re unsure about if physical/old school ways our parents did of disciplining your child - For more, visit the Canadian Pediatric Societywebsite and it has lots of information on the risks of physical discipline

Grey Bruce Public Health said it best, “As parents move into the toddler years, they will find themselves becoming very familiar with positive discipline techniques”.

I hope to gain good techniques and plan to share them with you J

http://www.publichealthgreybruce.on.ca/Family/Toddlers/ToddlerDiscipline.htm