Disciplining your children is simply a way of life, and it helps to prepare them the future. However, disciplining your children isn’t cut and dry, and there are several different kinds of mistakes that can be made. Instead of worrying that you’ll make these mistakes eventually, learn what they are and how to avoid them before they unfortunately happen.
One of the most common mistakes that parents make when they’re attempting to discipline their unruly child is backing down. Nobody wants to be the bad guy, but you must always follow through with your word. For example, if you told your child you would ground him for a week if he acted up again, you must follow through with this. If you never back yourself up, your child will never understand that you are actually threatening him or her with punishment. He will automatically be under the impression that you won’t actually do anything, so following direction won’t be important to him. This is why it’s imperative that you stick with your word and never back down.
Losing your patience as well as your temper is never a good way to discipline your children either. At the time of discipline, you may think to yourself that your heightened tone of voice will really get the message across. If used on rare occasions, this technique can work, but habitually screaming is no more effective than not disciplining your children at all. Your children may even be prone to yell back because of the constant screaming. When giving your children disciplinary direction, keep your tone cool and collected.
In addition to these, you will also want to make sure that the punishment you’re giving your child fits the fault. In other words, you should fairly punish your children without overdoing it. If you overdo it one too many times, your children will begin to focus on the fact that they are being over-punished and not on what they did wrong.
Bribing is also a big no-no when it comes to discipline. For example, you may bribe your child with dessert if they finish their dinner. Of course, this plan will work, but after awhile your child will begin to feel entitled to dessert after his/her meal (or a reward in general), and will feel as if they’ve been done wrong if they don’t get it. Instead of bribing your child with material items if they do as you ask, begin simply praising and complimenting your child on his/her good behavior. Your praises and compliments will go a long way in the long run, so keep this in mind.
Of course, it’s hard to discipline perfectly throughout your child’s adolescence, but there are obviously certain types of things to avoid. Avoiding these mistakes will help your child to get a better understanding of life and how different things work, and you can continue to build on this with your child.