No matter the age of your child, one of the major components of healthy parenting is BALANCE. You can give allllll the positive reinforcement in the world, but if negative behavior is not met with appropriate consequential action, your child is never going to become a disciplined individual. The goal is to help your child develop self discipline so that they are proactively making good decisions on the front end without your intervention. In order to do this, you must first reprimand them when they make bad decisions. Don’t just stop at rebuke, however. You should always combine whatever punishment is necessary with an explanation as to not only exactly WHAT your child did wrong, but WHY that was not the right action to take. Some things may seem as though common sense should serve as proper explanation, but not when it comes to children. They need to hear it… and they need to hear it repeatedly.

Consistency is a key factor which decides whether or not your discipline strategies are going to be successful or not. If you are consistent, chances are that even if your techniques are flawed you will still have a much stronger impact on your child’s behavior than someone who practices fly-by-night disciplinary action simply because your child at least knows without a doubt that SOME action will take place when they mess up. The moment your child figures out that all you are going to do is threaten them with actions that are never carried out, your authority in their life becomes null and void. Unless your child just reaaaaallly wants to mind you { … LOL … } then you can kiss any control you had over them goodbye at this point. If you tell your child they will be grounded, get put in time out, or receive a spanking if they repeat such-and-such behavior, you should NEVER fail to enforce the consequences assigned to that behavior.

Children may rebel against you. They may act angry. They will likely be resentful. Parents are easily manipulated when children play on their emotions. Remember that your child needs you to be the authority in their life. They have friends – you should not compromise your role as their parent by trying to fit into the role of being their friend. When it’s all said and done, sacrificing that moment of friendly tolerance is going to instill priceless values in them and is going to save them from a great deal of bad experiences in the future. Above all, discipline should always be done out of love - not frustration and CERTAINLY not anger. You’re enforcing consequences for their benefit, so that they grow up to be productive contributors to society and so that they are afforded every possible opportunity in life to reach their highest goals.

What are YOUR best discipline tips?