I can't remember which comedian said it now (I wanna say Bill engvall but I am not positive) he basically said... what is the point of time outs.... you send the child to their room.... their room is filled with toys, games, and likely in these days, a music player, a tv and a gaming system. WOW what a pu nishment. "GO to your game room and think about what you did"

Applied properly a time out might work for a young child. what will you do when that child gets older and maybe gets a little defiant at their time out and refuses to stay in their time out? I can't say I EVER feared my mother because she smacked me on my a$$ when I deserved it. In fact, she is my very best friend and I love her so very much. Spanking alone does not make a child fear you... spanking incorrectly may cause a child to fear you. But like Sirrahsmom said..... you don't do it when you are angry.... that is what leads to people getting out of control. the child wants to do something they are not allowed to do... most of the time they KNOW they are not allowed to do it (if they don't know it's not allowed that is a different story and that is a parental failure not the childs fault of course) but you give them the choice. OK you can do that action but realize that once you do... this is what will occur. they learn to make a choice, they learn responsibility... and if they go through with doing it anyway.... they learn consequence. very important in life now I am not saying haul off and just go on a whacking frenzy on a kids butt. but one good slap... perhaps two will do no harm. But you MUST talk to the child about why they must face the consequence of that particular action. Be honest with them.... kids arent stupid. don't speak to them like they are children. Talk to them like adults.

One great example of how talking to kids like they are young adults works is my brother family. They have three kids and another on the way. they are 10, 5 and 4. they are the most wonderfully behaved kids but like all kids they do act up and get out of control. when that happens my sister in law pulls the child aside and does not say "now hunny stop doing that ... goo goo gaa gaa.... baby talk" Even witht he 4 year old... she pulls them aside and flat out tells them that THAT kind of behaviour is not appropriate and it will not be tolerated. Then she lets them return to their playing... if they still cannot behave... then they get the punishment. there is no baby talk in discipline. In fact, there is almost NO baby talk in that household what so ever. she treats them like Human beings... like young adults... and because of that... she has a very happy and sane household. They have VERY smart children because they weren't coddled or babied. Their favourite thing to do as a family (when they can't be out doing things) is to sit at their picture window and watch the bird feeders.... they sit (as a family) with their bird book and everytime a bird lands they look up that bird and read about it. Even the 4 year old now can tell you just about every bird we see when we are out walking. AND they love doing these things. if any family would benefit from homeschooling it is THEM because Lisa is a wonderful mother and teacher. I can only hope we can raise children the way they have.