Monday, March 16, 2009

Parenting: Instilling Responsibility, Despite AIG

Supergirl has been getting herself into some time-outs lately that have not seemed to do any good. She spends the entire time hurling blame at us for putting her there, rather than taking responsibility for making a poor choice and moving forward. She ends up in time-out for an hour, sometimes resulting in flat-out lack of privileges (grounding) for the rest of the day.
This makes everyone miserable, but I am steadfast in my goal to teach her accountability. I asked her teacher for some help with this, and she gave me a great worksheet to use. I used this model to create a time-out journal for her, so now when she is in time-out, she can stop shouting and write. I printed out several sheets and they are waiting patiently in a binder for the next appearance of SuperSassygirl:






I was asked to have a time-out because I chose to:





I feel ___________________ because:




I am going to make better choices by doing the following. These THREE things will help me problem solve in the future:








I have read and discussed this with ____________, and I am proud of her for taking responsibility!

_____________________ (my signature)




8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dude. This couldn't have come at a more perfect time. I don't know how old your little sass bucket is, but mine is almost 8 (going on 15) and her time outs are out of control. THIS is perfect! So glad I stumbled on you today!

Shannon Des Roches Rosa said...

Some people were never taught to take responsibility and move forward (e.g., a lot of whiny bloggers looking for reinforcement, though none who would read this site of course). Good on you for recognizing SuperGirl's need for a more mature and external logical brain (i.e., a parent), for doing your damndest to make these lessons stick, and for getting professional backup.

I can't find my blog said...

I am so using this for my sassy 9yo boy! Ugh. I'm posting about him tomorrow and seriously, I'm using this.

Anonymous said...

OMG WANT. I am so stealing this for my obnoxious and precocious 5-year-old son. He likes to write, maybe this will help him remember WHY he's in trouble all the time.

Seriously, yesterday he spit on his brother and told me he did it because he "forgot to not to."

[insert primal scream here]

Unknown said...

Damn! My kid can't read...or write yet, but I am sooooo gonna use this.

furiousBall said...

haha, this is perfect and very much needed with my little monkeys... oh, and my kids too

Jen Myers said...

too bad my imp can't read yet...

Great idea!

ShallowGal said...

I *LOVE* this idea! Thanks!