'We all deserve a little treat for doing hard things.'
It was a reality TV show where parents struggling to get their kids to listen would ask an experienced, no-nonsense British woman named Jo Frost to come into their home, observe what was going on, and give the parents some tough love about why they were so stressed about their “difficult” kids.
One episode struck me hard: A woman with three kids who felt like she had lost control. They showed clips of her kids refusing to do anything she asked. Frost explained that she was entirely against negotiating. In other words, bribery was out, and giving them consequences for not listening was the only way to go. Fair enough.I was at the doctor’s office with my three kids and husband.
According to the Supernanny, this is how your kids learn to take advantage of you and become the boss in your house. This is how to raise a child who knows no boundaries, who will grow to be a master manipulator. And so I tried to stop the bribery with my kids. I threatened to take away dessert or stories if they didn’t do what they were told. But more often than not, it was a disaster.
I saw Supernanny shaking her finger at me every time, but I stopped caring. She wasn’t going to tell me how to live my life.