Love & Discipline

Hi Darlings,  I’m sure we all had a good holiday this past week…Thanks for all the feedback I got from all my suggestion in my email . For those who didn’t think they got their money’s worth please accept my sincere apologies as I believe it was a situation  out of  management control.  I have good news also and will send direct emails to those affected – at this point, I wish I was affected !!

OK..today’s conversation is as relative as it gets because I believe even if you aren't  a Parent just yet, it’s one experience you must have gotten from truck-load of nieces and nephews or even younger siblings.

 I remember my neighbor and friend Ify who lived with her eldest Sis (Mum of three) and her endless complaints about her “spoilt brats “ . For some reason, she just believed her Sis wasn’t a good disciplinarian and her kids were running wild all over. I tried so hard to understand but I just didn’t ..Fast –forward  8 years now, Ify is based in Italy and everytime she visits with her four boys,(2 sets of twins) I just sit back with a paper bag of popcorn.

A typical example will be a couple of months ago when they came to town, we had all  gone for Pizza and were waiting for our order to come ; after about 15mins I had to go ask the attendant the reason for the delay. You wont imagine my surprise when I turned back and saw  the second twin boy eating away from another child’s Pizza. Apparently,  he’d taken it away intimidatingly !!!  Thankfully the young child’s parent was so understanding but I definitely was embarrassed for my friend and that was all she  moaned  about on the drive home.. Wasn’t she a good Mom, did she discipline enough or too much, was she a good example ?..endless questions. This is one from my basket of random samples so don’t laugh it off mbok !

 I have read up some amazing books on loving and parenting the little ones..because I'm an avid reader, I have  come across different schools of thought but in all of these I found that one thing  a common denominator – Discipline for kids doesn’t just make them well behaved, it forms them for their future decisions and pathway in life and so the earlier we see it as that , the more seriously we’d take up the duty .

So please share with us your different ways of disciplining your little ones cutting across all age groups ..feel free to share specific experiences and how you managed through the different phases . I personally have a huge belief……

 “ Reward as fast as you Punish “

Recommended books

Loving your Child isn't Enough – Nancy Samalian

Positive Discipline – Jane Nelsen

Power of a Praying Mom – Stormie Omartian