One hour of quiet time

Every now and then I like to send my children to their rooms to play for an hour or so. Not because they've done something wrong and are being punished. It's a timeout of a different sort.

A timeout for them to get away from TV, computer games, electronics, other siblings and family members.

It's a time for them to spend in their rooms entertaining themselves. Due to the increased use of electronics many children find it difficult to entertain themselves when unattached to these gadgets. It is a good idea to give children long breaks from these devices so they learn to have fun without them.

During their time in their rooms they will often play with neglected toys, listen to music, read a book, draw, have some quiet time building Lego cities. Sometimes they'll even tidy up and organise their space.

This break also gives them time apart from siblings which helps with re-connection. You know what they say about absence making the heart grown fonder. They miss each other after having a well needed break.

Most importantly this timeout is a time for the parents (me) to have a well needed break as well.

Don't get other siblings involved

Recently I witnessed something I dislike as a parent. A parent was reprimanding their child for unacceptable behavior when another sibling joined in the berating. It soon became a two against one dialog as they both got in an agreement about how bad this other child is. I died a little inside and felt bad for this child.

When it comes to reprimanding a child it is important that other family members don't join in and gang up on the child in question. There is that saying 'black sheep of the family' and that saying is essentially other family members getting together and deciding that one person in the family is not good enough to be part of the family, or at least not as good as the other family members. Kind of an awful way to feel about a person and an awful way for a person to see themselves. Imagine that person knowing that's how other people (family, loved ones) feel about them.

There may be that one person in the family who is more mischievous than others, more angry, moody, bitchy, cranky, sulky, hyper, whiny etc. A person like that needs to be told their behavior isn't acceptable and it could be harder to love someone who is hard work. However, standard childhood behaviors and moods are not a good enough reason for family members to gang up on someone and determine they're not as good as other family members.

Keep your children out of adult, parenting affairs.