A no-no environment or a YES environment?
This week we’ve talked about what what gentle discipline is, how to choose joy in parenting, and reasons not to spank. Today we are talking about creating a “yes” environment.
Before I had kids I thought child-proofing your house was such a stupid idea. I mean kids die every year from drowning in the toilet1! I always thought outlet covers were just an excuse to be a lazy parent. Now, I feel quite different and I think today’s writers explain why.
Parenting a Toddler with Loving Guidance
Sheryl at Little Snowflakes explains the benefit of “baby-proofing”
At a year he was too young to understand the repercussions of his actions. So quickly we babyproofed our house and installed gates, locked cabinets and toilets, and removed all clutter. What a difference it made! I no longer had to follow him closely telling him no all the time. He was free to explore our house and I could relax.
This goes back to Tuesday’s posts about choosing joy. Sheryl could follow her son around so that “he learns” but what would the mood and the environment be like? I couldn’t find a reference2 but I read somewhere that parents of toddlers say “no” on average nine times every 15 minutes. That seems like it would create a very tense environment and tip the balance toward frustration for the parent.
Sheryl lists several examples and some great books for further reading.
A Tiny Word with a Powerful Impact
Mrs. Green at Little Green Blog let’s us in on a wonderful parenting secret word:
It’s one that stops tantrums in their tracks, brings you closer together and makes yours and their lives a whole lot nicer. It’s free, available to anyone and you don’t need any training. You can teach others to do it, in fact you’re already a master at it, but perhaps you’ve forgotten …It’s fun, uplifting and you’ll feel like the best parent in the world!
That word is ‘yes’.
By saying yes even when you are busy/irritable/late/overwhelmed, helps your child and you.
I guarantee it will turn your mood around in an instant and it will stop any escalating feelings of anger or sadness on your child’s part and irritability or stress on yours.
Mrs. Green has some great examples! Go check them out!
Welcome to the Carnival of Gentle Discipline
Please join us all week, April 26-30, as we explore alternatives to punitive discipline. April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month in the USA and April 30th is Spank Out Day USA. In honor of this we have collected a wonderful array of articles and essays about the negative effects of punitive discipline methods, like spanking, and a myriad of effective alternatives.
Are you a Gentle Parent? Put the Badge on your blog or website to spread the word that gentle love works!
Day 1 – What Is Gentle Discipline
- Gentle Discipline 101 at The Parent Vortex
- The Power of Praise (hint: it’s not what you think) at Mighty Marce
- Golden Rule Parenting at Novel Mama
Day 2 – False Expectations, Positive Intentions, and Choosing Joy
- Choosing Joy at Raising My Boychick
- Making It Fun – The Power of Play at Schmoopy Baby
- Assuming the Best Intentions at Hobo Mama
Day 3 – Choosing Not To Spank
- 50′s Childhood – Guest Poster, Connie at Baby Dust Diaries
- I Have The Urge To Spank But I Choose Not To at Breastfeeding Moms Unite
- Mistakes at Breastfeeding Momma
- Undermining General Beliefs about Corporal Punishment at Authentic Parenting
- Choosing Gentle Discipline at Hybrid Life
Day 4 – Creating a “Yes” Environment
- A Tiny Word With a Powerful Impact at Little Green Blog
- Parenting a Toddler With Loving Guidance at Little Snowflakes
Day 5 – Terrific Toddlers; Tantrums and All
- A Positive View on Tantrums at Edenwild
- The Terrible Two (and Two Parenting Strategies to Replace Them) a guest post by Code Name: Mama on Good Goog
- Gentle Parenting During Toddler Tantrums at Typical Ramblings, Atypical Nonsense
- Gentle Parenting Ideas from a Toddler’s Perspective at Code Name: Mama
- http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml02/02169.html ↩
- GASP! For shame. ↩
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