A Little Bit of Bribery Goes a Long Way

This afternoon I taped a segment for the Slice TV show "Til Debt Do Us Part". They brought me in to speak with a Dad who was going through a tough time with disciplining his 2 1/2 year old. Oh, it wasn't the disciplining part per se...it was sticking to the punishment and not caving with a guilty present afterwards. Maybe manageable when they're this young and a "My Little Pony" will do the trick, but not so cute when they're 14 and they want a real pony, or 16 and they want something with real horsepower. Dads have a tough time dealing with their daughter's pouts - too bad it doesn't work when Mom does it.

He was also having trouble dealing with his daughter fighting with her 1 year old brother. I probably wasn't much help when I admitted that one of the nicest parts about being out taping this show was that I wasn't at home listening to my 14 year old and 16 year old fight.

Parenting theory is really a great thing.