Supernanny to the Rescue!

On any given Friday night, I will not be in a fancy restaurant. I will not be in a ritzy nightclub, I will not be at the movie theatre. I will be curled up with a cozy blanket, chocolate chip cookie and milk, on the sofa tuning in to Supernanny. My husband asked me why I was so interested in watching it, after all, I was with my own kids all day long (and READY to put them to bed by 8pm), why do I WANT to watch a show about other kids behaving badly and driving their mom crazy?

Jo Frost, Supernanny, Is Genius.
Parents and Children are so lucky to live in a time with this fantastic parenting resource right in their own living room. No longer do we have to parent the way our parents did, and their parents before them, with a belt or you were sent to pick out your own stick, or with spankings. (I could go off for hours on how I think spanking/other physical punishment is a completely ineffective cop-out for lazy parents, but that's another post.)

I started watching Supernanny when my oldest daughter was only 18 months. Now that she's 5, I have the techniques down fairly well and if there's 1 thing I've learned... it's the ABSOLUTE SECRET to all of Supernanny's techniques..... and..... I'll tell it to you.....

The SECRET is:
You
MUST
follow
each technique
EXACTLY.
Yes.
EXACTLY.

My kids are not well-behaved by accident. They were not born with an "obedience gene." I regretfully admit I was a very obnoxious child, talked back to my mother, fought/hit my siblings and could be a HUGE brat. I decided I didn't want my family to be like that. Enter Supernanny!

If there's only one thing you grasp and run with is proper Time Out. I've heard parents on the Supernanny show say- "we tried time out, and it doesn't work for us." And then Jo goes on to demonstrate the technique, and in many of the shows she spends time pointing out how the parents sabotage (say it ain't so!) the technique by not following it exactly.

The video below is a very good example of WHEN to use discipline. I chose this particular behavior because it may generally go under the radar...but I think it displays the fundamental idea in teaching children kids to behave, by listening to their parents and showing respect for others.



Some of the comments after this video posted on You-Tube read:

"the boy is two and he thought it was funny...why is it unacceptable ...it's his kind of game and i found nothing wrong with it"
YES, I know we can be silly with the kids and knock down each others block buildings and all laugh, BUT, the point of disciplining something so small, is to teach proper behavior in ALL settings and always being consistent. If these small things are nipped in the bud, the child's behavior won't reach the point of the other little terrors you see on the show.

"well they told him to stop he should have listened."
Exactly the point. The idea is to teach the children to mind their parents, in all situations. Don't wait until they're running out in the street to practice getting them to listen to you.

The Time Out Room for the older child (6yrs) seemed pretty scary and effective. However, I don't have a boring, scary looking room at my house, they all have toys in it. I stick to the time out chair in my most boring (dining) room. It's in a good location because I can always see them and be sure they aren't getting out (while ignoring them of course) and can set the timer on my microwave so I don't lose track of the time.

At first it seemed like I was enforcing Time Out all the time. But after a while(not overnight), my kids learned I mean business and now it usually is just a warning and the behavior stops.

L's is very well behaved, and I can't even remember the last time I had to put her in time out. This tool was very effective in teaching her the difference between good and bad behavior.

I'm also big on positive reinforcement when she plays nicely and helps out and has a good attitude. D's pretty good but still working on it...I'm just as embarrassed as anyone when I have to take him out of sacrament meeting for throwing a fit and into a room alone on a chair (I stand in the hallway) for a time out there!

CONSISTENCY is the other KEY. I've sat my children in time out in the aisle at the grocery store and walked 10-15 feet away (still within sight), for their time out. I've done time out in a towel, having to jump out of the shower to break up a brawl. Now that my kids are pretty well trained, I am not as strict as I was at first, because the children know their boundaries.

I suppose teaching our children discipline is how we earn our badges for motherhood, although I don't think the court of honor is until they're off to college. I know I'm far from perfect, and I feel awfully indebted to Jo Frost and ABC. I hope Supernanny stays on and starts having shows about tweens and teenagers a few years from now. I invite you next Friday night, stay home, and at 9pm (or whenever it comes on), turn on your TV and tune in to Supernanny. (Yes, even you, my cute friends who don't have kids yet or only have babies- might as well be prepared:-)) I ALWAYS learn something new, or how I can brush up on a technique. My kids are worth it.