As far as I can tell 99.99% of people who have ever interacted with a child in any way agree that they need discipline. Some people are uncomfortable with that word and prefer to call it, “instruction” or “guidance” or “thinking time” or “a good solid whoopin’ upside the head.”
I think it’s also fair to say that we’re all more or less in agreement that different methods are effective with different children.
So… we’ve got this Sweet Hippie Daughter. She’s a great kid. Truly wonderful. She is so clever and witty and bright. She is polite and well-spoken and creative. She is unbelievably funny. Also, she’s quick-tempered and tends toward phrases like, “I deserve it.” And “It’s not fair.” And… my all time favorite, “You just don’t understand!” Did I mention she’s a stand out star in her drama class?
My thought is there is no better cure for an over-developed sense of entitlement than a good dose of daily chores. Handsome Hippie Hubby agrees with me and, since we’ve increased the amount of responsibility we give SHD she really has gotten much better about flying into temper tantrums.
See? A Happy girl, helping out.
But she still has them, and they are far more frequent than I feel is appropriate. My thinking is, if a few chores helped, more chores will help even more.
Hubby disagrees. He feels that it is right to ask her to participate in the daily life of the family – the fun parts as well as the working parts but that, adding extra chores as “punishment” will only make her hate chores forever and she’ll spend her life wallowing in filth and end up on “Hoarders” talking about how her abusive mother was just a lazy hippie who made her do all the work. (What he said didn’t really resemble that sentence at all but that’s what I heard in my head when he was talking about this.)
So now it’s time for What Do You Think Wednesday and I’m laying it before the jury… uhm… I mean, humbly seeking the wisdom of my readers.
What do you think?
Are extra chores an appropriate punishment for a child or does it just create negative associations?
Poor kid. We wore her out!
Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort?
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If we work on our goals together, they may be a little easier to achieve!
