Are You Too Busy to Discipline Your Child? Nine Ways to Help With Disciplining Your Child.

As I was walking around the furniture store, I saw this little girl, she couldn’t be no more than five years old, and as she ran around the furniture store she ran into a floor model clock and knocked it over. My first thought when I saw this little girl running around without a parent in sight was where’s the parent? When the parent finally appeared, she immediately scolded her daughter. What I really wanted to do is to scold the parent. Rewind….if that was one or both of my sons, they will be next to me looking at furniture helping me decide which sofa, dining room set, bedroom set, etc. to purchase. Why do parents not discipline their children but when the children misbehave in public, parents scold them? Are we too busy with living that we are not being the best parent we can be?

The question is rhetorical because I know the answer to the question. Yes, we are too busy with life that we are too tired to train our children in the way that they must go. As parents, we are faced with working, cleaning, cooking, washing clothes, shopping for food, school supplies, and clothes and the list goes on. Once at home, we are tired and just want to retreat to our room. Who has time to discipline our children? There is still hope and still time in our days, in our life to discipline our children. I have a few suggestions that may work for you, as it has worked for me. Here are some suggestions:

1. Start training your children at home. When they do something at home, immediately bring it to their attention and tell them what they did wrong and how to correct it.
2. Do not get tired of teaching your children. One of the most important roles we play in life is that of a parent. You stay on the job as a parent longer than any other jobs you may attain.
3. Be a role model for your children. I often think about how I want my boys to be when they grow up. Some of the qualities that come to mind are respectful, ambitious, successful, loving, caring, independent, dependable and adventurous. I set an example for them in all that I do and in my interaction with them to be a good role model.
4. Spend quality time with your children regularly. Some of our favorite things to do are to go to the movies and the bookstore, I allow my oldest son to cook dinner two times a week and I help him prepare the food. Helping with homework is one key way that I spend quality with my sons. We also play together.
5. Communicate with your children. It is very important to keep an open dialogue with your children and listen to what they are saying. I know some of my most important lessons in life were learned from conversations with my children. Communication is not only talking but the ability to listen.
6. Be involved with your children, participate and support them in their activities in the community, at school, at church, etc. It’s important for parents to support their children in activities they participate in. For instance, do you attend your child’s sporting event, science fair, or school activities? If not, get involved.
7. Love your children and put them first. You will be amazed by how many parents forsake their children for just about anything. Don’t be one of those parents. Love your children with all your heart and always think, what can I do for them and how can I be a positive influence on them.
8. Don’t allow your anger, frustrations and emotions to interfere with your ability to parent. Most parents allow their children to get away with misbehaving time after time. That one time when a child does something wrong and the parent is emotional upset or distraught over something else, they take it out on the child. Never allow this to happen. Be consistent in your training of your children.
9. Talk to family members and friends that are parents to get other good suggestions and see what works for them.

The role of a parent is a never ending responsibility. The most important aspect of my life is that of being a parent. My actions, my words, everything I do are all influences on my children. I enjoy being a parent, with the constant disciplining, I’m most proud of the results when I interact with my children at home and in public.

Don’t be the parent that allows your child to run wild in public places; it’s a reflection on you. Start disciplining your children and you’ll be greatly rewarded when you children is in public and interact with others.