Parenting Strategies - Taste Your Own Medicine

Parenting Strategies  – Taste Your  Own Medicine

Another incident happened with the same mother and the same child mentioned in my previous blog; the son was around 6-7 years old at the time.

One day the mother picked up the son from school. The son made a request to the mother for something, the mother said no. The son was not very happy in the car, complaining and asking the mother for something. The mother said no.

As soon as they got inside their own house, the son threw his clothes, his school bag and everything on the floor.  He  laid down on the floor, started screaming and yelling, kicking his arm and feet, throwing a temper tantrum.

This mother,  reacting to the son’s temper tantrum, also threw her jacket and her handbag on the floor. She then lay on the floor spread eagle beside her son, screaming and yelling exactly like him and did it as long as he was doing it!

The son was so surprised by what the mother was doing. He sat up and looked at his mom who was screaming,  kicking her feet exactly like what he was doing. His mother did not scream at him, nor yell or scold him. She was just mirroring exactly the same thing as he did.

The son did not expect his mother copying his actions. He stopped his temper tantrum, sat up and looked at his mom.  

Son: Mom, why are you doing this?

Mom: Doing exactly what you are doing. Whatever you do, I can do too!

The son looked at the mother’s actions and thought she looked silly and stopped his temper tantrum. He also learned that whenever he throwed a tantrum, his mom would do.

Tasting Your Own Medicine – Without fighting with her son, without beating and arguing with her children, this mother used wisdom, and humor to teach her children.

We can try that too!

Do not be angry, do not nag and repeat our children all the time because they would not listen. They would tune us out.

On the other hand, we also need to teach our children  that they cannot always get what they want by throwing temper tantrums. Do not reinforce them and reward them  when they are behaving badly.

If they scream and kick and we give what they want, they will learn that this is the way to get things for them. Reward them when they are behaving well, i.e, when they are sitting nicely doing their work, pat them on the back, praise them. 

Do not ignore your children when they are quiet and behaving properly. Praise them, give them a big hug when they are doing something you want them to do, such as performing their routine and chores and getting ready for bedtime by themselves, helping you or helping their brother and sister. 

When you let them know that you are happy and proud of them  while they are doing well, they will want that praise and keep doing well.

R.T.

Radio AM 1430 

April 24, 2014

Toronto