Image via Wikipedia

Discipline. It may not seem important to your children, but it’s definitely important to you. Along with values, boundaries and good old fashioned politeness, discipline is one of those things a parent simply can’t do without.

But how do you discipline without harshness? And what techniques will bring about the best and most positive responses from your children?

You may have heard the statement, “Parenting with love,” and although the idea sounds good in theory, it’s simply hard for you to do it in practice. That’s because when a parent has to discipline, their son or daughter has done something less than positive and their response merely follows suit of the child’s behavior.

For this reason, therapists and others suggest that parents take a breather before disciplining their child. Counting 1-10 silently or leaving the room for a moment to think over how they are going to speak to their child helps. So does trying to see the situation from their child’s eyes. Playing with smeared applesauce on the kitchen table may look like a mess to an adult, but to a two-year-old, it’s more like a painting—and it feels funny and sticky on their hands!

Time-outs work well for some children who have a time-out chair they sit on when they’ve misbehaved. The time-out corresponds to the age of the child—three minutes for a three-year-old, four minutes for a four-year-old, etc. Before moving from time-out the child and parent have a little talk about the unwanted behavior, and the parent gives the child a hug.

Remember, toning your voice down contributes a lot to the response of your child and how easily he/she takes the discipline.