Thursday, April 10, 2008

Disciplining Junior Vadai

yesterday I had a tough task in trying to discipline Jnr. It was a cross between making good on promises of discipline and drawing the line. I am not a fan of beating the shit out of a child but some form of consistency is crucial, as is follow-through.

I has a nice chat with Shaul before heading back

"Make good on any promises of discipline or else you risk undermining your authority. Kids have to believe that you mean what you say. This is not to say you can't give second chances or allow a certain margin of error, but for the most part, you should act on what you say."

Of late he been stretching the limits of mischief at school and despite few reminders and time out it was getting out of hand.

Being the whip role that I have I came back to Klang to sort this out. Its not an easy task disciplining the kid you love. It was tough, more harder for me and he knew a line was drawn.

He was allowed to say his piece and his side of the story, then it was meted out. Sigh. All the way driving back hte even played out in my mind.

Should I have handled it differently, was the manner I conducted it right, question that one asks them selves.

In my days I used to hate getting whacked out of shape but that was one of the accepted forms of discipline, times have changed.

2 comments:

marie said...

Raising a child is the most challenging task of all.Making difficult decisions,taking disciplinary actions, drawing lines and making rules are part of parenting.
Most of us was raised by the cain and honestly that was a very effective disciplinary method. We were brought up in such away that we feared our parents,earn their respect, constantly pleasing them, making them proud..etc.
Back then parents feared how their child would turn out in society, always worried what people might think or say.. all they want is for us to grow up to be decent individuals, but now people just dont care what others think and let their child grow up to be free thinking individuals. There are good and bad to this but neither way is wrong.

You did the right thing to discipline Jnr. I know it must have been painful for you as it was for him and I know it is hard to be the one to carry out such harsh punishments but sometimes it is necessary. Maybe you can explain to him why you reacted in such away, so that he understands how you feel and know how much you love him.

You are a good parent.. remember what ever you do... it's always for the best interest of the child.

darthvadai said...

Thanks