Whacky Parenting share here

I have two toddlers, and I live in an area that gets a lot of rain. So I kept my eldest's old crib mattress, and put it on the floor in the game room. Then, when they are getting too hyper, we go to the game room, play some rock music and jump up and down on the mattress. Lots of fun for those rainy days.

Turkey Lurkey said:

I have two toddlers, and I live in an area that gets a lot of rain. So I kept my eldest's old crib mattress, and put it on the floor in the game room. Then, when they are getting too hyper, we go to the game room, play some rock music and jump up and down on the mattress. Lots of fun for those rainy days.

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Hey, I do the same thing with the two homeless guys down the road. Cool.

I did a word-war with my 10 year old the other day while I was working on my NaNo novel and she was writing a 600-word DAR essay.

I save boxes and paper-towel tubes for my 6-year-old and keep him supplied with tape and staples. So far he's build a bi-plane, several sailboats and a racecar. Right now he is lying quietly on the floor, cutting up a Gardetto's box.

Most of my parenting is based on yelling, "Whaddaya, dumb?"

Ummm... we make our 8-year-old twins pedal their way around the world. That cuts down a little bit on the excessive running around and hyperactivity. (A little bit.)

I have a whatever it takes philosophy. I use whacked and zany...whatever comes to mind at the time. For my 19 year old, I tell her to call if she's out at night and others have been drinking and she needs a ride home. Then, when she gets in the car...I set the egg timer on the dash and say, "Dollar a minute...let's go."

My soon to be 12 year old...when he's down and in the dumps (say angry that he didn't score a goal at his hockey game) I use the sure fire way of making him happy. I take him for one of our magical RED NECK SHOT PUT outings. What is that, you may ask? That's when we fill the truck with garbage and take it to the dump. We get to throw things into big bins of other things. We like to find glass things to throw...makes the shot puttin' so much funner. What if we don't have garbage? Make some. Declutter...he needs to smile.

I have all sorts of things. I pay them for stuff all the time and I'm not ashamed to admit it. They get $50 per A on any and all report cards. (This is in sharp contrast to my parents never looking at my report card) I motivate with money. Nothing wrong with that. My son saves every penny...his bank account is probably bigger than mine.

Whatever it takes people. They are the only things of value in our life...besides our dog.

Mine is only 5, so we have it pretty easy (Ack did I just say EASY?)
.... so far if he argues something or doesn't want to do something, I do the same.

Oh, you're not gonna talk to me? Well, I'm not gonna talk to you. He hates that.

Oh, you're mad? I'm mad. You don't want to go, ok, we'll stay home and do nothing. ALL DAY.

It works for now.

Yes. And I loved when reverse psychology worked. Sadly, that was years ago for me. I think I'm getting to the age where they're beginning to use it successfully on me. )-;

Oooh. I've used some pretty unconventional parenting techniques!

When they were little:

If they got into a fight, I'd make them sit on the floor facing one another and make them look eachother in the eyes. It never took long before they were making faces and laughing.

Another one for fighting - make them hug and then make them kiss eachother smack on the face. They HATED that.

Of course, I was never too proud to use good old fashioned guilt, either. I've told them many times, "You guys are all you've got. Dad and I? We'll be gone some day. Your brother is your only true friend in the world." I'd follow that with a very sad, pitiful mommy face.

But the prize for best parenting method for fighting EVER has to go to my hubby. My boys came into his life at the tender ages of 8 and 10. Boy, did he get a crash course! One day they were fighting - imagine that - and he broke them up. He told them to go get their swimming trunks on and he took them to the pool. He tossed them into the shallow end and said something to the effect of, "Now you can finish your fight, but you can only use your legs." They really went at it...for about two minutes.

Now, if only I could get some creative parenting methods for 20 year olds. I'm just drawing a blank these days.

My daughter is growing a little dependent on the tv. Now she asks to watch it in the morning. In an effort to get her dressed and lessen her dependency she can watch the tv BUT I'm not turning the channel so whatever is on from the night before is what she gets in the morning.

Sometimes it's cartoons. Sometimes it's other things.

We should have a 'whacky way kids get around the rules made by crazed parents' thread. I just remembered something.

We were going to be different. NO GUNS of any kind for our boy. At the age of...God, I want to say 2 but maybe it was 3...at any rate it was really friggin' young...he fashioned a hand gun out of a peanut butter sandwich, by eating it into shape...pointed the barrel at me, cocked the trigger and fired. That's when we allowed the word MODERATION to rear its ugly head.

Afinerosesheis said:

I use the "You guys are all you've got. Dad and I? We'll be gone some day. Your brother is your only true friend in the world." I'd follow that with a very sad, pitiful mommy face. many times. =)
They don't seem to care at all, so I guess that one isn't working too well.

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Oh, you have to crank it a little tighter then. Be melodramatic. Over the top. Show them just how "frightened" you are that they can even dream of fighting with their siblings.

I can still see their wide-eyed expressions. Sure, they probably wandered off to their room to talk about how mommy was losing it, but at least they walked off together. Ha! I won! At least those battles.

Oh! I just remembered another. My boys were usually very good in public. I can't remember even one tantrum in a store and they learned at a very early age never to beg for anything. They were actually very well-mannered when it came to shopping.

Usually the trouble happened in the car on the way home. Picking at one another or whatever. Now, my ex and I had an agreement. We did spank them, but never in anger. The rule was to cool off so that the spanking was just that and wasn't used to get your anger out.

So when they acted up, we'd tell them, "Ok - you know how you acted, now go sit on my bed and wait. I'll be up to spank you in a little while." They would go wide-eyed again and maybe even sniffle a little. Good Lord, it's not like we ever beat them. But they always had that healthy fear! Muaaahaahaa. Anyway, so up they'd go to my bed and they'd wait.

And wait.

And wait.

I swear, Daniel actually came to the top of the stairs once to ask if I was ready yet. It really must have worked a number on them. So by the time I got up there, they had definitely already had their punishment and all they ever got was a little whack on the backside.

*shrugs* It worked for a while.

*takes notes*

I agree with Mr. C. Being a parent is all about winging it. You adapt and learn, then adapt again. It's not that you don't establish boundaries, but that you learn the best way to establish them with each individual child.

I have taken masking tape and taped my daughter to a chair so she would finish her homework. After she was done she stood up and it all ripped off. It has never worked again.

My son is not a morning person. I thought I was bad about mornings, until I had him. I'm not even in his stratosphere when it comes to not being a morning person. So when we're really having a bad morning, it's race time. "I bet I can get dressed quicker than you can!" "I bet I can put on my shoes faster!", "I bet I can let the dog out, feed the cat, fill the pellet stove quicker than you can find your bookbag/grab a granola bar/comb your hair!".

As long as I can make mornings a game, I can usually avoid The Crabby. Usually.

And right now, he's really into Star Wars. Sometimes I'm Darth Vader in the mornings and he's a Storm Trooper. Sometimes I'm Palpatine and he's Darth. Occasionally I try and jedi mind trick him (that has yet to work).

Carole said:

If they got into a fight, I'd make them sit on the floor facing one another and make them look eachother in the eyes. It never took long before they were making faces and laughing.

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Oh, I've got to remember this. They're two and four, so I'll have to wait another year or so for it to work with the littlest.


My four-year-old was having a rotten day a few months ago, whining and complaining. And I had a migraine. So we stood facing each other and blew raspberries as crazy loud as we could, to blow away all the ickies. It helped her mood... though I can't say it did anything for my migraine.

Making chores into a game always helps. I had the four-year-old help put her clothes away. I'd toss her an item and tell her which drawer it went in. We had a race to see how quickly she could get everything in the dresser.

The two-year-old is pretty darn well behaved. And she seems to understand reason better than Big Sister.

I give my kids candy and soda before they go off to school. That way they get all their energy off there and they're calm when I get them that evening. I mean, the teacher is there to take care of them anyway, right?