UPDATED: The Parents Yap About Discipline: Punish, Praise, or Both?

There are so many ways to discipline - and not discipline - your kids. What works in your home? The parents yap about what they do, what their kids lose, and what we stand to gain when discipline is doled out.

Paul Simpson I don’t punish my kids often, and it’s not because they are infallible angels.  I’m just not an effective disciplinarian.  I grew up in a yelling household and I’m carrying on the family tradition.  I don’t find it rewarding but it does let me release frustration and tension.  Sometimes yelling even makes my kids stop doing whatever it is that’s causing me to get angry.  Sometimes. The punishment front is taking shape on my middle-schooler.  Four simple words: “Give me your phone.”  The phrase sends him into convulsions.  You’d think I asked him to hand over a vital organ.  Luckily, he’s not too mischievous and is your basic good kid. The problem I have with punishing my younger son is finding his Achilles’ heel.  The kid is …

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The Parent Yap

MomTalk: Bringing Down the Hammer -- on Other People's Kids

We all read a recent blog post where a dad talked about disciplining other people's children in his home. It got us thinking. What do we do when a child that isn’t yours misbehaves on your watch? Do you bring down the hammer? Do you let it slide?

Check out the blog post and then read our responses. Let us know what you think! Melissa Schools Caveat for the more timid: speaking up to other people’s kids can get you in trouble. One time at a public playground, some little sparkplug came running by me and was moved to give my rear end a hearty smack as he did so. He was about three. I called over to him, “Hey! That is NOT okay!” Enter, stage right, Momma Bear. She said, “Are YOU talking to MY child??” I wheeled around and said, “Oh! Is that YOUR child who smacked me on the bum just now? Yeah, I was talking to him.” Hmmm, how to make this story short, but still convey to you the tension and absurdity of the whole thing? Momma Bear’s contention was that I should have spoken to her about…

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