Don't Discipline My Kids

Discipline. There are so many ways to discipline a kid. Everyone has an opinion and everyone thinks their way is the best way. But guess what? These kids are mine and I get to pick what way to parent.

Now, there are certain people that I don't mind chiming in. There are family members that are in my inner circle that know the way I parent. They spend endless hours with my kid and I appreciate their opinions. BUT when I am present, let me parent my kids.

I know every mom has been there. The glares. The nods. The eye rolls. You know when others are judging your parenting. You feel it. Here you are doing what you believe is best and there they are thinking that they know better. To be honest, look at me all you want. Judge me all you want. I am a mom. I've been a working mom. I've been a stay-at-home mom. I am use to the judgment. My problem is when those "well meaning" strangers chime in.

I was a teacher for 7 years before I decided to be a stay-at-home mom. Believe me, I know the struggle of keeping your mouth shut when you think you can discipline better than a child's parent. I have sat through countless parent-teacher conferences where the child is drawing on my white board, rolling on the ground, and constantly interrupting the parent. I have sat there biting my tongue. You know why? Because the parent was present. If I were the "teacher" in that moment and mom and dad weren't there, you better believe it would have been my job to discipline. The parent was there. They decide how to parent. They made these little people. They will forever have to deal with these people. Not my circus, not my monkeys.

Now, with 2 monkeys of my own, I realize how upset I get when others parent my kids. I have a philosophy. We all do. I won't tell you mine because it doesn't matter. Mine isn't better than yours. Some decide to be gentle. Some decide the child needs time out. Some parents believe in yelling while others believe in a gentle tone. Time out chairs. Calm down corner. No toys. Bribery. Guess what? Your choice. Your kid.

I may cringe when I see some discipling techniques. I may share research based articles on effective discipline. I might share non-research based articles just cause I believe in them. I might do a lot of things but one thing I won't do is discipline your child when you are in the room so please, don't discipline mine.