When I was a teenager, I got into my first car accident. I was driving my Dad's brand new green Pontiac full of girls across the state line to a small town called Revillo, South Dakota where the drinking age was eighteen.
I ended up having to call my father to come and get me. My father's method of discipline was to give me the silent treatment for several days. This did nothing for my learning curve but only increased the chasm growing between us.
Brianna, my eighteen year old daughter, just got into her first car accident. Thanks to my father, my first reaction to my daughter was to hold her in my arms and tell her, "Fenders can be fixed! I am so grateful you weren't, hurt."
For Brianna, we will wait a day or two and then we’ll take the car to the dealership where she will get the quote on how much it will cost to repair it.
Hopefully she will learn that her parents are there for her when she makes mistakes and learn the life skill of not lamenting over mistakes but repairing them.
Parenting Practice: I will practice asking myself, "What is the life lesson I would like my child to learn here rather punishing the behavior."
Thanks to Karen Kvols, a fellow Parent Educator!
Warmly, Beverley
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