As a relatively new parent, it’s hard to know when and how to discipline your kids. One of the best books I’ve read on the subject is Raising Great Kids by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. It talks about raising kids with great character and doing so by balancing love and discipline.
For example, I was attempting to get my daughter to go to sleep the other night but just would not lay down. She jumped out of bed and wanted to watch movies, TV, play games…anything but sleep. After the tenth time of saying it was time to go to bed, I had to lay down a consequence, that I would take away a toy if she did not come to bed.
How did I know that this situation warranted this level of consequence? Was it too much or too little? How would she feel about it, or me for that matter? Would she still love me or hate me?
Difficult fears to run through while I was figuring my way through this dilemma. But even though I chose the toy removal consequence, I still reassured her that I loved her and that I still cared for her, but still she needed to get into bed.
Ultimately, and in a crying fit, she flung herself onto the bed and got under the covers, and then cried herself to sleep.
Hard to take for a new parent such as me, but who said parenting was easy?
Remember all the crap we put our parents through? I guess it’s payback time.