Oh my word, that commercial was priceless!!!!! Absolutely horrible but perfect anyways. A parenting moment that comes to mind is when we lived in an apartment complex in Florida. My middle daughter was about four and would have tantrums on a grand scale. I can remember one day the police pounding on the door that there had been a report of screaming. The screaming was over her sister getting the red ice pop. I pulled Miss Drama Queen to the door and of course they saw she was perfectly fine. If I knew then what I know now, I would have had dogs instead.

I work with children on a daily basis. My observation is that parents are too easy. They give in after a few fits because they either dont feel like dealing with it or are too busy. I noticed a big difference between kids who are told no and the kids who get away with anything.

If your child is throwing a fit in thr store give them a choice. To calm down and start listening and be rewarded or keep screaming and leave with nothing. Count to 3. If they havent picked calm down...park your cart and leave. Being firm. Its the key.

My co-worker told me something funny. She asked me why the kids listen better to me then to her. I am very strict, but I can be very fun. If i give the child a choice and they chose the one with consequences...i follow through. I dont give in. Sometimes the whole class will have to be punished (sit for a few or miss a few minutes of play time) they know they have to listen. Whereas my co-worker she will give in. She will make a new deal. Kids know who they can and cant get away with things. They play it. If you say something...follow through. Even if it takes 10 minutes longer.

As for spanking vs time out vs choices. I feel that every child is different.

I currently have a 2nd grader who has a few behavior issues. I tried time out...didnt work. What works for him is redirection. I will have to get him engaged into coloring or reading. Then he is fine.

I had another kid who only understood by making thr choice and having consequences. When he was told either do what is being asked or lose his eletronic time....he would listen.

However, there are those kids who need time out. Or those who you know would get it if their parents would spank them.

I also wanted to add that postive reinforcement is amazing. We had a student this year who would spend almost all day in time out. Finally its like...he isnt getting it. So after observing...i understood him. He was seeking attention. He doesnt have much of a life. He bounces from daycare to daycare. When he is home
..mom locks him in his room. So we decided each time we see him being caring or sharing...she got a marble. When its full he gets a prize. He has been in time out maybe 3-4 times since we started this in mid september.

Maybe I am really passionate about teaching but the kids respect you. They see you working with each kid in different ways. I was out sick one day and there was a sub. The next day I went back...a student of mine said...im glad youre back...we missed you... it wasnt as fun without you. It really touched me. It makes all the hard work pay off. Just knowing they see it.

If your child is acting out for attention...please try spending 10- 15 minutes a day with them. I am willing to bet youll see an improvement .

Maybe with really young kids. But if they can talk, reason & all that then there is no reason why they shouldn't understand they did the wrong thing. Not simply don't do it or else because I'm bigger & I say.

The same applies to any punishment, it is a consequence you don't want to happen again. Once they are a certain age then they can understand what they did wrong and why they got a punishment.

If I had a choice (which I didn't) I'd chose spanking. That's the quickest & easiest punishment. Being lectured, grounded or such the worse. When I got a spanking I know that I did wrong as my Dad would explain it to me. I never feared my Dad. I should say the absolute worse was spanking plus a talk. I already got the spanking I could do without the talk! Double punishment I felt. Even though I'd rather a spanking I still consider it effective. I hated lectures or grounding very much, didn't like being sent to bed either. I didn't get too many spankings though. Think I was an easy kid. My brother got a lot of spankings and grounded so much. He was very willful & stubborn from young age as I remember. I guess it eeventually got through.

If people abuse & spank in anger then I can see a child being scared and confused.

I don't mean to sound nasty but does Ms. Mustang have children of her own or is she a teacher who gets to go home at the end of the day? I worked in day care many years n' sure I had any number of problem kids I turned around...for me...during the hours I was working with them. Having your own children for better or worse 24/7 is a whole and completely different ballgame.
That said yes there are any number of better discipline methods than corporal punishment.

Then realistically did I ever crack anyone in frustration? Hell yes I did. The problem is that now in retrospect thirty years on...the one child who deserved to get forced in line and wasn't, was the one who turned against me anyway. Perhaps just one session of "Mommy has had more than enough of your outlandish behavior"...She certainly would have deserved it. But I was still young enough to think I could reason with her. Ideally not physical punishment is I guess what I'm trying to say.

I find that all parents have different things to say about raising their kids. This is no offense to anybody, but I find that parents of special needs kids have a tendency to think all kids are like theirs. Some kids are smart and rather independent and don't need to be treated like babies. This lady had a bright and pretty blue eyed girl. Maybe 6 or 7 years old. The girl didn't call her "mommy", she didn't need her hand held in the store, she was outgoing and articulate, speaking to everyone BUT her mother. This lady was speaking to her like a baby.

"We're going to get this one."
"Lets turn this way now."
"It's time to pay now."

It drove me mad. The girl doesn't need nor deserve to be spoken to like that. She wasn't even paying her mom much attention, but trying to seek attention from others who would engage her like the smart little girl she was. Aside from being talkative and excessively walking up to strangers (I blame her mother for this) she was well behaved. I REALLY wanted to say something, but I didn't.

Things are a little different now. When i was a kid it was a
clip around the ear and if i started crying I would get another one.

My late father use to have a short cane at the dinner table, he only used it once but it was enough of a warning believe me

Now it is "must not touch the little darlings in case they get a complex"

Now we must wrap them up in cotton wool and if not social services get involved, another lot of busy bodies.
No wonder so many get involved with drugs etc, they don't know they are doing wrong.

My Mom was a force of nature...She taught at a private women's school for many years...Miss Jean Brody heeheehee...She didn't have to do more than look over the top of her glasses and everyone obeyed. She could terrify New York cabdrivers with that face.

My kid is special needs and I agree you needn't baby them. Then again it's the degree of "special". One of the local business owners has a son maybe in his early twenties. He can walk with his service dog and human assistance...but can only make grunts and screams, probably needs to be dressed and fed,

There's a child to give me gratitude. My girl is happy and enthusiastic. She can feed herself, dress and take care of her own hygiene. She can read rather well and talks a mile a minute. I try to give her independence within reason. On one paw she's bright enough to window shop on her own and meet me at a specific time. But something like walking home from school on her own may never happen.

She can count money...sometimes correctly. But concepts like a doll costs $15.99 and you have $7.25. That means you don't have enough money yet goes over her head. She's fourteen years old. Aye, as a parent you adjust.

BTW-I've had success with the looking over your glasses face. I'm also very soft spoken normally. But if I yell "Stop" in the right tone, everyone in the house freezes...whatever works.

Agree with both. Times have changed a lot. It bothers me to see bright and lively children treated like babies. I don't think it was right. I was treated like that.

I always took "advanced" classes and had very good grades in school yet my parents seemed to think I had no clue of anything. They wouldn't let me do things like sleepovers, I wasn't allowed to participate in fundraisers because they thought I'd screw it up. So it does bother me a lot to see it.

I've met some special needs children before. I'm always unable to pity them like people tell me I should. They usually seem like bright, happy kids, oftentimes oblivious to things that would upset normal kids. It's often something to be envied, not pitied.

In any case, I've seen enough horrid knocking and smacking to never consider doing it to any children. I will never have any children, I will never work around them, and I will try my hardest to avoid them at all costs, but I'll never be mean to them or say it's fine to hit them. I don't think it's needed, same as how it's not needed with dogs.