Q:
I don’t think time-outs work, but my wife insists they do. She sends
our son, 11, and our daughter, six, to their rooms. I think they just
enjoy themselves in there and it’s not working. I suggested making them
sit on our staircase for a while but she thinks that’s cruel. All I
know, is her method is not working. Help! KENNETH J, HAMILTON, ON
Stop;
you’re both right! Time-outs do work but only until a certain age. As
with all discipline techniques, having a number of tricks up your
parenting sleeve is a good idea. We often get stuck between our
individual approaches to one idea and trying to build a repertoire of
many strategies. A parenting course could be very helpful (and sometimes
fun!) in giving lots of alternatives for this age and developmental
stage and can get the parenting team back on track.
