Search Results for: blog so long supernanny

Somewhere in the Strict Zone

Time outs don’t work with my kid. Sorry, Supernanny. I understand the method behind the discipline technique and follow the directives explicitly; unfortunately, sitting in a chair and allowing my child to simply think about her poor behavior doesn’t yield positive results. So, what’s a parent to do? Ramp up the punishment? I am by no means a permissive parent, but I’m not a super strict one either. I’m somewhere in the strict zone hoping not to tip the scales too far in either direction. However, I am more concerned about entering the overly strict zone. I don’t want to … Continue reading →

So Long Supernanny

Ta-ta toddler time-outs. The queen of the “naughty step,” is stepping down from her primetime post. Jo Frost a.k.a. “Supernanny” tells the New York Post that she is calling it quits after the current season of her hit TV show wraps up on ABC this winter. The reason: Apparently, the British child whisperer/TV star wants to move on from putting other people’s kids in time-out and start putting her own children there. Yes, Supernanny wants to be Supermommy. Only she’ll have to move out of her dad’s home first. “I have decided to hang up my cape,” Frost tells The … Continue reading →

Outgrowing Time Outs

The day has finally come. What has lasted for more than five years has reached a sad conclusion. R.I.P. time outs. My six-year-old has officially outgrown the punishment made famous by a TV nanny. So long time out and the seat that forced my child into submission. You restored order in our home for more than 2000 days, and helped preserve my sanity by removing my kid from activities in which she exercised inappropriate behavior. So now what? I relied heavily on time outs to discipline my child. They were effective in that they provided consistent consequences and the place … Continue reading →

Parenting by the Seat of Your Pants

There is a common theme I have begun to notice in many of the Dr. Phil shows I watch on parenting, along with many episodes of “Supernanny.” It’s the “fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants” kind of parenting. This kind of parenting has no plan in place. Many parents just take life as it comes and when problems arise, try to handle them in the moment. I don’t know about you but when I try to handle anything in a moment of pressure, I usually don’t fare well. Parenting has to be deliberate and thought out. It takes energy, time and ideas to do this. … Continue reading →

When Selective Hearing Goes Too Far

“Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!” I yelled at my six-year-old as she whizzed down my parents’ newly paved one-lane private road. “Get off the road and onto the grass!” I demanded as a white convertible edged dangerously close to her. “STOP!” It was the last word I uttered before the car eventually slowed to a stop and I grabbed my defiant little scooter off the road and placed her squarely in a time-out. “But, Mommy, I didn’t see that car,” my teary-eyed daughter blubbered as I set the timer for six minutes. “And you didn’t hear me screaming at you?” I asked, defying Supernanny’s … Continue reading →

Fancy Nancy and the Fabulous Fashion Boutique

What does it say about me that I automatically see every new Fancy Nancy story as the basis for another Nintendo DS product or an animated PBS series? It’s all about synergy. Fortunately, our home is a video-free zone, so the only helping of Fancy Nancy my young daughter gets is via good old-fashioned books; the kind that don’t require batteries, voice recordings or electronic page turners. With Jane O’Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser’s latest masterpiece, Fancy Nancy and the Fabulous Fashion Boutique, young readers get all that and then some. In the latest brightly illustrated installment, Fancy Nancy is … Continue reading →

Hello Kitty Goes High Tech

This may be the only time you will ever see me reference my young daughter in the same post alongside Mariah Carey and Britney Spears. But when it comes to Hello Kitty there might not be a bigger fan. The famous female singers may have more money to spend on paraphernalia featuring the fictional feline, but my daughter is not far behind (click here to see her posing in her latest Hello Kitty jacket) and what’s more, the loyalty my offspring has shown to the big headed cat in her lifetime is something Carey and Spears have yet to illustrate … Continue reading →

What is Positive Reinforcement?

If you’ve been following my Tabby tales, you know I’m questioning what to do about her and the way she’s behaving towards Mr. Meow. If you haven’t, here’s a quick lowdown: At first the adjustment period was going well. For the first three weeks. Then she got very aggressive towards Mr. Meow. A vet visit confirmed she wasn’t spayed (as we’d first been led to believe) and she might be pregnant. So we got her spayed, but things haven’t gotten better. Now I’m trying to intervene and teach her new behaviors when it comes to Mr. Meow. I’m trying to … Continue reading →