Positive Discipline – Recognizing and Managing Feelings

The book I am currently reading is titled “Positive Discipline” by Nelsen, Erwin and Duffy.  So far, I am really enjoying the book.  What I like the most about it is all the creative ways you can positively discipline your child that will help him/her with reasoning and problem solving skills.  Their focus is that discipline should be used as a means “to teach.” The most recent lesson was on helping your child recognize and manage feelings.  Here are some tips:

1. Ask your child what he or she notices happening to his/her body when they get really angry (i.e. face gets hot)
2. Ask your child to talk through rather than act out how they are feeling.
3. Invite your child to draw a picture of how they are feeling.
4. Provide an acceptable way to deal w/anger (i.e. get some play-dough and allow the child to pound it out flat on a table).
5. Invite the child to take a cooling off break (fill a basket w/soothing items like a koosh ball or stuffed animals) before acting on their strong emotions.
6. Let the child have the last word – don’t try to fix their feelings.

As my eldest is right at the two-year-old mark, I’m sure I will find these tips very helpful. I pray that they are helpful for anyone looking for ideas on teaching their children.

In His Grip,

Monica