[stephdpenn]

I am the mother to two boys who go through spells of awful fighting. They are 12 and 8 years old. I have always tried to be creative when it comes to discipline. One of my favorites is to make them sit on the floor facing each other, holding hands while signing the "Barney Song". You know the one I am talking about "I love you, you love me. Wer'e a happy family...."
After them driving me a little crazy tonight I thought I would ask does anyone out there have any other creative punishments you give your kids? I am running out of ideas here!

[NDN]

Originally Posted by stephdpenn

One of my favorites is to make them sit on the floor facing each other, holding hands while signing the "Barney Song". You know the one I am talking about "I love you, you love me. Wer'e a happy family...."

Sounds more like you're punishing yourself with that one.

I REALLY hate that song...lol

[scarlet52698]

When the kids fight in our house then the "agressor" has to do something nice for the "victim". It's really cute when their baby sister gets to pick the game they have to play with her (if they were mean to her) because she will ususally pick "Tea Party". LOL

[jvc6477]

Originally Posted by FH-scarlet52698

It's really cute when their baby sister gets to pick the game they have to play with her (if they were mean to her) because she will ususally pick "Tea Party". LOL

Oh sweet revenge. A dish best served cold

[stephdpenn]

NDN, I HATE the song too. But it is so worth it because my boys hate it even worse. Plus I have it on video tape, figured it could be used for many blackmail reasons later on in life

Heather, I had never thought of that one. Great idea!

[dkb60]

When my girls were younger I had them write up a list of possible punishments. They were the funniest things. One daughter suggested that I make her shower everyday. One suggested that I force her to lay on her bed and read. (for that daughter that was no punishment). Needless to say, I didn't use their suggestions but did keep the list so one day they can show their children how horrible their mother was.

D.

[JoEvans]

My ex came up with a great one after he spanked his 2 year old and she turned around and said, "that didn't hurt". After that, and til today, as far as I know, He makes her sit in the middle of her bed, no tv, no radio, no toys, no books. Depending on the age, is how long she had to sit there. Taking away a child's favorite thing, ie.. phone, tv, radio and/ or toy, etc. is worst on the child. In my opinion.

It seemed to work wonders with our teen girls.

[brandydawn]

My Dad was really creative.

Once I had to memorize and recite the Gettysburg Address perfectly...if I messed up I had to start again.

Another time I had to dig a driveway

He also had a very good memory, sometimes he would wait until the time came when I asked for something I really wanted and he would remind me of the time I did something and say no.

Regards,
Brandy

[Lexie]

My niece used to have temper tantrums--extreme ones at the age of 4 and 5, when she should be able to control herself. During one such extreme tantrum my SIL picked her up and put her, clothes and all , in the shower and turned on the cold water ( it was winter and they have well water--so it was REALLY cold). She told her she needed to cool off that hot temper. She only needed to do that once. Now whenever a tantrum is threatened, my SIL asks my neice, "Ready for a Cold shower?", and my neice will immediately calm down.

Drastic--but it appears to have been the miracle cure!

[Umbilical child]

My wife punishes me every Tuesday night by making me sit through episodes of survivor.....I can't for the life of me see what I have done to deserve this......

[momofmykids]

Since they're 12 and 8, do they earn allowance or have any extra money in their pocket? Have you thought about "charging" them for fighting? My 17 year old has to pay me for smart remarks. They range from $5-20.)The ages your kids are, it could be something like $1-5. He had a bad outburst last week and it cost him twenty buckaroos! That has a way of turning them around in a hurry! Of course, I always turn around and put the money in groceries or whatever, so ultimately, he gets it back...it's not like I'm making money off his bad behavior.

[tenderheart80]

When me and my sister were younger my Dad would tell us we had to kiss each other on the cheek and give each other a hug or either hold hands. Back then I would of rather been grounded. lol

[Ians mom]

We had to write reasons why we were thankful for the sibling we happened to be fighting with. I remember telling my youngest sister once that I hated her...that one earned me 100 reasons that I was glad she was my sister. I am the 4th of 6 kids and to this day I am closest to that sister...maybe some of those reasons sank in???

[jessc098]

There are some great ideas here! We live on an urban trail system, but it's very, very safe. We use it for LONG walks. When our 7-year-old DD was raging in tantrums shortly after placement, we'd go out for walks on the trails, and we'd walk until she gained control of herself, and then for another five minutes and then turn around back home. At any sign of loss of self-contorl, we'd turn around and walk away from home again, plus five minutes after control returned. (she's a runner, so we've found clogs, and flip flops work best for her in case she gets it in her mind to do something crazy, they slow her down enough).

We did this once after leaving the park--when she'd been playing in a water fountian. She didn't want to leave, and had a fit (and made quite a scene). She was soaked to the bone and fully dressed and it was pretty cold. I wasn't taking her in the house when she was being abusive like that, so we parked the car at the trailhead and walked. She shivvered and badmouthed and yelled and screamed, but eventually, she got herself in control and we turned around back home. Now every time she starts to get upset I'll tell my husband "go put your shoes on." and she'll say "I'm going for a timeout on my bed--I don't want a wet walk!" Also--when DH or I are angry and about to "loose it" or even giving the impression of such, we'll talk walks by ourselves to be a good example. A few weeks ago she told us "I'm needing a walk here you guys--I'm grumpy. I need some privacy. It was funny.

We've also done sentence-writing, and "taxes" for trouble. BUt the walks are generally easiest on the neighborhood. Another one, is that when she adversely affects someone (temper tantrums waking the neighhbors at 6am on a sunday) she has to repay them. Once she did that with candy and apology letters, once by pulling weeds. It's a good opportunity to talk about being a good citizen by not being rude.

[bromanchik]

Originally Posted by Umbilical child

My wife punishes me every Tuesday night by making me sit through episodes of survivor.....I can't for the life of me see what I have done to deserve this......

Won't she tell you??? This is just cruel.