Privilege Withdrawal

Well…Unfortunately I don’t think I’m going to win the “Mom of the Year Award!” The other night I was having power struggles with the kids and gradually the praises and pleading gave way to punishments. Before I knew it I’d had it up to here!! That was it!! “I’m done! No more talking! Tomorrow all privileges are withdrawn! That means no TV! No playing with dollys! No coloring. No reading. Nothing!!” They just looked at me blankly as I turned around and headed back to bed hoping they magically stayed in theirs! They did by the way. Maybe they were just so confused. Is something wrong with mommy?

Apparently I missed the memo that says privilege withdrawal isn’t an effective method of punishment at this age! They are a little young and it was too far removed from the incident. The baby was, of course, exempt. All three followed me throughout the house. Yeah the baby just wanted to be with me too. I mean who wants to play alone when everyone else is helping mommy? We made breakfast, cleaned up, did the wash and made the bed. We ran errands and even made bread! After lunch it was nap time! From then on it was coasting until dinner time.

Some psychologists report that revoking privileges is cruel and unduly harsh. I’m not convinced that this is so. But I’m also not convinced that it did that much of anything! They didn’t seem to mind not playing and just being with me! Funny thing was, all in all, it was a really good day. No-one screamed or fought. They all got along. The house was the cleanest it had been in a while! I was happy and they were happy! Hmmm…I think I need to schedule more cleaning and helping time with mommy. Not everyday needs to be a free play day!!

Sheila Cason MD