7.09.2009

When is it okay to discipline someone else's child?

I know, I know, I said that there is no way any parent should intervene how others raise their children unless abuse is involved. However, when is it appropriate to discipline someone else's child? A lot of parents I know say that it is disrespectful if somebody tells them how to discipline their child and there is no time that it can be appropriate. Having said that, what is a parent supposed to do in scenarios where their own children are involved? What should a parent do when a child hits their child? Or scams their child of her beloved toys? Should the parent just take their child away from the situation? Should they tell the parent of the child who hits/scams that their evil little snot is on the loose? (okay, maybe something nicer...)Or should I reprimand the child who hits/scams mine?

For me, it's so hard not to do anything. My initial reaction is to hurt the child that hurt mine. So, everytime I see that my child is done wrong, I immediately react by pulling my child aside and consoling her. I do this because it's helping me not react emotionally and hit the other child silly until he's blue in the face (Yeah, yeah, judge me all you want but if you're a parent, you will be lying if you say that your inner decepticon-ish beast doesn't come out if your child is wronged). But all the time, I feel like I didn't give justice to my child because I let that "bad little monster" go and do as he please. My guilty conscience always tells me that I am an accessory to the crime because I allowed the kid to go without something to make him understand that what he did was wrong. BUT WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?

There are times that I am composed enough to say to the kid, "sweetie, we don't do that," but it's hard to always respond to bad behavior like that. I always tell myself, "he's just a kid" but at the back of my head I think, "yeah, you little damien!" It's just hardly possible for a parent to see bad behavior of other children as just that, bad behavior, at their own children's expense.

Ugh! The woes of parenting!

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