No Emotion? What Do You Mean No Emotion!!!

The most important part of discipline is the one most people struggle with- staying calm and speaking without emotion.

Misbehaviour rarely occurs at a time when we are relaxing on the sofa or enjoying an activity with our children. It usually occurs while we are busy or occupied with something. When we become distracted from our task by our child's misbehaviour, our patience level is low and our natural instinct is not to stay calm, but rather to yell or speak harshly or abruptly. Basically, we throw an adult temper tantrum. We know and understand that this is wrong and that 9 1/2 times out of 10 it does not solve the problem, but we still do it more often than we'd like. How then do we break this cycle?

The first step is to take a deep breath and say the word "CALM" in your head.

The second step is to remember the outcome that yelling will bring and make a conscious decision to speak calmly, without emotion.

The third step is to actually state the behaviour you want from your child in a matter-of-fact, calm voice.

This takes practice like anything else, but if you consistently use this technique, along with my other "Tricks of the Trade", you can be assured that 9 1/2 times out of 10, you will change your child's behaviour quickly and at the same time feel content knowing that you kept your cool and didn't say anything that you might regret later.