Many parents use time outs as a tool to discipline their kids. When a child did something wrong or something they weren’t supposed to parents would send their child to a corner to sit in silence. For me this was the worst punishment my parents could give me. I was always a hyper child my mind constantly raced. Sitting in silence with nothing to do felt almost torturous when all I wanted to do was run and play.
When I was five I thought it was a great idea to draw on the wall. I wanted to draw flowers to decorate our house to make it in my mind “pretty”. My dad saw this act and was immediately irritated. He sent me to time out for five minutes in the corner by the staircase. This punishment made me feel horrible. The first few seconds made me feel antsy and stuck. I hated being in the same spot for long. After about five seconds my mind told me to just walk away and I did. I left and when my dad went to check on me, I heard his surprise from the other room. He came and grabbed me and put me back in the corner and told me to stay another five minutes.

I stood there for maybe five more seconds and left again. While I understood my dad wanted me there to punish me for drawing on the wall, i couldn’t just stand there. I needed to be entertained by something, I needed to be doing something. Once my dad realized I left again he went and got me and asked why I couldn’t stay still. I explained that i needed to be doing something the best way a five year old could. To my surprise he understood and decided that the next time i misbehaved the punishment would be different.

After this act of drawing on the wall I misbehaved by riding my bike where I wasn’t supposed to. Instead of putting me in time out he decided to take away my bike for the week and told me to do something else. While I missed my bike and learned my lesson I was able to still do other activities where I wasn’t misbehaving. For me taking the thing that I misbehaved with was a much more effective punishment.

Many kids respond differently to different forms of punishment. For me taking things away was more effective then a time out. However, other kids could respond better to time outs, forced exercise, do extra chores. There are a lot of different ways to punish kids for misbehaving. Finding the right policies in your household could be a great way to push for good behavior in your children. The right policy could make all the difference in paenting.

When I was young I was very active in extracurricular activities. I tried a multitude of different sports and hobbies to bide my time. I did sports like basketball, volleyball, softball, and cross country. I also found a love for music when I was learning to play the guitar and piano. However, the one thing I didn’t really think about was martial arts. That was until my fourth grade science teacher was sharing a story about her karate class. This immediately peaked my interest, she spoke about how karate helped her form more discipline in her life and how much fun she had earning the next belt. After I heard her speak about her love for karate I went straight to my mom to ask her if I could sign up for karate class. My mom said yes and the next week I was in my first class.

We spent the first class learning more about the rhetoric of karate and the importance of discipline. While I found this class quite boring as the most exciting thing we did was practice a simple punch. However, this was only the first class and I continued to hold out hope for the next one. The second class came around and we learned how we leveled up belts and practiced a punch and a kick. While I enjoyed this class a little more, I was starting to feel like no one in the class took it seriously. While I understood this was just an entry-level karate class, I hoped for a little more structure and practice.

What really bothered me was the way you earned the next belt. You would typically think that you would demonstrate what you learned to level up but, in order to get the next belt you had to do kind deeds. While I understood the sentiment, I was completely baffled that the way to level up had nothing to do with karate. I ended up telling my mom about it and she found it odd too. With this new information I decided after that class to quit. While I could have tried a little harder I couldn’t get past the lack of actual Karate was done during the classes and the unrelated way to level up. It’s as if someone was tasked to paint a flower to become CEO of a technology company.

While doing good deeds is a nice aspect to instill in children, it had nothing to do with the class I signed up for. I found that taking that karate class was entirely a waste of money especially after hearing what went on later in the class. My friend who also took the class and said the next five classes were about the same. They spent more time talking then actually learning karate. Karate could have been another fun activity but it turned into a bore. Not all activities may be right for everyone and some policies within the activity may not translate well.

When I was in Kindergarten I used to take the bus every morning to school and from school. My mom gave me a talk before riding the bus pertaining to proper behavior and what to do if no one was at the bus stop t get me. On Fridays my mom often had to stay at work a little later and would mean that she may not be able to get home in time to let me in the house. My dad worked until late so there was no one able to let me in some times. My mom told me the first thing I do if no one comes was to knock on the door in case she just hadn’t made it outside yet. If no one answered I was to knock on our neighbors door and tell them the situation. My mom previously spoke to them about this. Lastly if they didn’t answer, I was to stay in the backyard until my mom came home.

While my mom not being home in time wasn’t a common occurance the few times it happened I was able to handle the situation and follow the instructions my mom gave me. On one Friday my mom wasn’t at the bus stop as I assumed she got caught up with work. Being five years old I thought it would be the greatest thing in the world if our door was unlocked and I could be in the house all by myself. However, when I checked our front door it was locked and no one answered my knock. While I was disappointed to not be able to have the house to myself I walked to our next door neighbors house and knocked on the door. They didn’t answer the door either. Since I was only left with one option I trudged to my backyard where I decided to play in my neighbors gazebo as they often let me play in it when I was younger.

Eventually my mom came home barely twenty minutes later. She saw me playing in the backyard and seemed happy and excited that I followed all of her instructions.

Leaving children unattended can be a dangerous thing to do but, if given the opportunity they could surprise you. I listened to my mom because I always understood that she knew best and in our situation her trust and instructions helped a situation that could have been potentially dangerous. Kids being left unattended can lead to kids running away, starting trouble in the neighborhood, or cause issues in the house.  However, a little trust can go a long way. While it is important to watch your kids, kids just might surprise you with their maturity and listening skills. Some of my friends had similar experiences growing up and that same trust was shown to them and they followed their parents instruction as well. While I would have rather been inside with my mom coming home from school I’m glad that my mom was able to trust me to stay safe when she couldn’t watch me.