Childhood can get so confusing sometimes. Especially when the adults keep changing the rules in mid-stream. Often our demands can be contradictory to a child. For instance:

PARENT: “Look at me when I talk to you…don’t give me that look…answer me when I  speak to you…don’t you talk back to me, Young Man…go to your room this instant…don’t you dare walk away when I am talking to you…speak up, I can’t hear you…don’t you raise your voice to me, Young Lady…”

Is it any wonder that our youth of today walk around with that blank look on their faces, holes in their jeans and safety pins in their noses, (although to be quite frank, I’ve never seen a kid’s nose with a split seam or a torn place in it, so I don’t really see the need there.) But that’s not the point. The point here is that we need to find a better way of disciplining our kids.
 
It is a scientifically proven fact that a child will do the exact opposite of whatever he is told to do. Perhaps it’s time to employ the old reverse psycology technique.

PARENT: “If you’re going to play outside take off that coat and cap. It’s cold out there.”
The kid will answer, “Okay,” while continuing to button the coat around his neck and will probably add a pair of warm gloves along with the cap and a scarf.

PARENT: “Get in the house and stop wiping your feet on the door mat, you’re going to clean every bit of the mud off your shoes.”
The kid will stand there wiping his feet for at least the next five minutes until the soles of his shoes are cleaner than the bottoms of your own bare feet.

PARENT:”Will you do me a favor, please? Will you break this lamp? It’s a priceless family   hierloom, and it needs to be knocked onto the floor and totally destroyed.”
The kid will ignore lamp and probably go outside to play ball.

PARENT: “If you’re going to throw that ball around then go into the living room where you can break something. You know better than to throw a ball outside.”

PARENT: “Here -  eat these cookies, I almost have supper ready and you need to spoil your appetite, and if you’re going to jump on the couch, at least put your shoes on. Stop brushing your teeth. Where are you going with that food? You know you aren’t supposed to eat in the kitchen. Take it to the living room where it belongs and don’t let me see you carry another dirty dish to the sink. And don’t put your clothes in the hamper. They belong on the floor in your room. When are you going to learn that we live in a barn?”

Once all of these demands from you - the parents - have been totally ignored by the kids, your life can return to a more normal state. And even if things don’t improve, you can at least say that your kids do exactly what you tell them to do.

However, while this method of child rearing may work well for some parents it might not be good for others. Especially if your child is one of the rare ones who actually listens and does what they are told to do. Perhaps you could start with something small like threatening to call their teacher and have their homework privilege’s taken away. Say, for each time the child disobeys, he or she will not be allowed to do homework for at least one day.

If that doesn’t work try grounding them. Tell them they are not allowed to go to their room for a whole week and that they must sit in front of the TV and play video games, or go next door to their friend’s house.

If that fails, the only thing left to do is to take them, along with twenty of their friends, out for pizza and a skating party. That ought to get their attention…show them who’s boss. You can’t be too lenient with kids. They need strict discipline. They need to know who is in charge of this run-away train called “growing up”.