By Dionna Ford

This post was written for inclusion in the 2nd Annual Carnival of Gentle Discipline hosted at Parenting Gently. All week, June 27 – July 1, we will be featuring articles and posts about alternatives to punitive discipline. See the bottom of this post for more information.

Too busy playing to help clean up!

Here are some common scenes in my house:

We’re finishing dinner, and I ask Kieran to take his plate into the kitchen. He prances off, intent on getting back to his trains that he was playing with before dinner. I ask again, nicely; Kieran ignores me. I ask again, not so nicely; Kieran gets frustrated with me and says “just a minute!”

or

We are getting ready to leave the house, and I ask Kieran to brush his teeth,... More...