Search Results for: bad behavior

Curbing Bad Behavior: Biting

Once bitten, twice shy. Or in my daughter’s case, indefinitely shy. And in my case, infinitely outraged. Last year, my child was on the receiving end of a serious bite.  Not by a spider, a dog, nor a snake, but by a boy diagnosed with a developmental disorder. My daughter’s bloody injury required emergency medical treatment.  Fortunately, her tetanus shot was up-to-date, so she wasn’t forced to endure a booster. Despite the passage of time, the details of that traumatic day are still seared in my memory.  As I learned from the attending physician, human bites can be far more dangerous than … Continue reading →

Defending Your Teens Bad Behavior

Four teens pull up to a McDonald’s Drive through and attemp to Rap their order. Apparently, they had spent too much time on YouTube watching different McDonald’s rap videos. They apparently didn’t watch the whole video to see that no one actually understood what the rappers wanted. The people at a Utah McDonald’s were not amused and asked the “musicians” to speak clearly. When the manager asked them to speak their order or leave they became beligerent used foul language and eventually sped off. The police were called, the young men were tracked down, and citations, similar to speeding tickets … Continue reading →

Paying for Your Child’s Bad Behavior in School

What kind of punishment would really hit you where it hurts in regards to paying for your child’s bad behavior in school? British government officials say parents of poorly behaved students are no longer deterred by moves to shame the family name as punishment to get their kids to act properly, so they’ve decided to hit moms and dads where it really hurts—-in their wallets. According to reports, parents in the United Kingdom – whose kids attend state schools – will now be required to sign a contract that promises their children will behave while at school. The government’s new … Continue reading →

Is This Your Child? Bullies and Bad Behavior

We have had a marvelous winter snow. I know that for many of you, this is not a very big deal–in fact, it can be pretty common place, but here in the Pacific Northwest–a fluffy white snow with enough accumulation to play in here on the valley floor is a very big deal indeed. This morning, I watched out my window while I was working as a neighborhood dad and his 3-year-old son worked for nearly an hour building what may have been the child’s first snow man. Then, a half-hour later, I watched as a gang of 4, 6-7-year-olds … Continue reading →

How Do You Punish Your Spouse for Bad Behavior?

Do you even punish your spouse for bad behavior? I’m not talking about major felonies, but minor misdemeanors. The times when they’re being PIAs (Pain in the A–) as my friend Roxanne likes to say. In 20 plus years of marriage can you believe it wasn’t until last week that it even occurred to me I had the power to punish Wayne? (By “power” I mean a threat I could wield to make him snap back in line.) The “Do” that Ignited the First Shot It all started in the morning. I guess I woke up with a wild hair … Continue reading →

9 Steps To Stop Bad Behavior

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Can you change your child’s behavior in just nine simple steps? Michele Borba, Ed.D, author of, 12 Simple Secrets Real Moms Know, thinks so. Here’s what she suggests: (1) Set Rules- Think about what rules you want to institute, remembering to let go of little annoyances and picking your battles. Then write down your rules and explain in clear language what you expect from your kids. As your kids age, you will probably have to adjust some of the rules. (2) Work on eliminating one bad behavior at a time- Although your kids may have several behaviors that are driving … Continue reading →

Update: Ignoring Bad Behaviors

I thought I would update you on my quest to decrease some of Tyler’s bad behaviors by ignoring them (see my previous blog). For the first person who noted that when a parent ignores bad behaviors they well worsen before they get better– you were dead on the money. Yesterday and this morning I decided to put my plan in action and I could see right away that Tyler was definitely trying his best to get me to respond. I was hoping that he kept his pajamas on so that I could let him go to school that way! He … Continue reading →

Ignoring Bad Behavior

Little kids love attention and sometimes they don’t care if the attention is negative or positive. The experts tell us to ignore bad behaviors and in doing so the child will eventually stop doing it. I try but I have to admit there are times when some of Tyler’s silly attention-seeking tricks work my last nerve, as they say. Take this morning for instance. He was fooling around when he should have been getting ready for school. I decided to ignore what he was doing so he decided to step up his game. He came to me and said he … Continue reading →

Ignoring Bad Behavior

There are some bad dog behaviors that WILL go away if you ignore them. Really! I’m not saying you stick your fingers in your ears and hum a little tune every time your dog is misbehaving. (You’ll spend a lot of time with your fingers stuffed in your ears that way!) But you can turn an attention-hound into a better citizen by simply ignoring him. Does this sound like your dog? (Okay, this is pretty much a portrait of my Moose!) He barks frequently when he wants your attention. He jumps up, or paws at you. He whines. He nudges … Continue reading →

Unlearning Bad Behavior

One of the most common issues I faced when I worked as a director of a preschool was finding parents who struggled with their child who learned bad behavior and brought it to school. This ranged from using inappropriate words overheard by adults to mimicking other children or siblings. The parent always felt embarrassed but how can they protect their child from everything in the world. Besides being impossible, it is part of the child growing up and developing their own personality and ways of handling problems. One of the stories I will share is the typical child who would … Continue reading →