Nobody every said that parenting was easy, but I don’t remember too many people talking about how much of a reminder it is for us as parents. Sure, we can think back to what it might have been like to be a child and on the receiving end of discipline, but that’s not what occurred to me today as I was disciplining my son.
Since the kicking still didn’t stop, I warned him that he would also lose all his Thomas the Tank Engine stuff (his very favorite toys) if he didn’t quit. He continued and lost the other toys. Luckily for him, he stopped kicking shortly after that, so I didn’t have to take away anything else.
It took me quite a while to collect all his Thomas the Tank Engine stuff from all over the house, and it was during that time that a realization/question came to my mind: is it by design that we discipline our children to remind us that actions have consequences?
This idea may not be too novel for you, or it might not strike you as strongly as it struck me today, but it may be that you never gave it very much thoughtful consideration.
Question(s) of the day:
What lessons have you learned about yourself while teaching, raising, and disciplining your children?
Related posts:
I have learned from my children, that if you don’t see yourself in your children, you aren’t looking very hard. My children have all my bad habits and they frustrate me because I must tell them not to do the exact same things I have done, and still do in my life.
Teach your children well, and you will become their student -Anon
–C8j
Big Cajun Man,
I think you’re right; my poor children have nature AND nurture working against them!
As one small example, my son recently started reading a little and walks around saying, “Holy C-R-A-P!” because I spelled it out so he wouldn’t learn the word “crap.”