The other day I was so frustrated with my toddler - she had torn apart our living room and was starting to throw Candyland cards around the room despite my repeated warnings - that I said something that even surprised myself:
"Maddy, do you want a spanking??"
That was all it took. She stopped immediately, quickly jumped to her feet, dropping the rest of the cards, and said, "Yes!"
Whatever a spanking was — she has not been and won't ever be spanked — she was so excited to get one. It made me laugh and we picked up the cards together.
Parenting can be tough – I have a toddler, teen and am pregnant, I get that - but lately I've noticed quite a few moms making the rest of us look even worse.
I'm sure you've heard a lot about Amy Chau, a Yale Law School professor who recently wrote a book detailing her strict parenting techniques. Like when she threatened to burn her daughter's stuffed animals if she didn't master her piano piece, "The Little White Donkey." She also banned playdates and sleepovers and forced her young daughters to practice their music for hours, not allowing them to take bathroom breaks.
Today I learned about another mom, Jessica Beagley, who is facing child abuse charges after a video of her pouring hot sauce down her 7-year-old adopted son's throat and forcing him to take a cold shower was shown on the "Dr. Phil" show.
Oh, and I nearly forgot about the Florida mom who killed her teenage children because they were "talking back."
Why does it seem we expect so much from our children - to never talk back, not hit, etc., - yet parents do the same in return?
Dr. Charles Fay recently spoke in Brainerd about Love and Logic Parenting and I wish I would have been able to attend. I've heard good things about the Love and Logic program. Parents need strategies to deal with their own frustrations and anger when it comes to parenting and discipling their children.
Leave the hot sauce in the fridge.
