For those of you who don’t know the wonder woman… Supper Nanny is Jo Frost. She’s a Brit, who has her own TV show, and really knows how to lay down the law for kids. Her show… titled “Super Nanny” was aired in Dubai up until a few months ago.
It’s about troubled parents who have lost control of their kids. Super Nanny helps them put down firm ground rules, and start working together at being a healthy and happy family. Over the few months that we watched the show, we saw Super Nanny help countless moms turn their tears into smiles. She worked miracles with even the worst kids, and the best part is… all the advice that she gave out was realistic, and we felt we could use it too!
Super Nanny’s magic charm was the “Naughty Chair”. She told parents to keep a chair in a visible part of the house and tell the kids that this was the “naughty chair”, and if they misbehave, they will be placed on it. The rule is that when your child misbehaves, you make eye contact and give them a warning. If the behavior is repeated, you place the child on the chair for the same amount of minutes as their age. So a 2 year old would sit for 2 minutes, and after the time was over, the parent who punished the child would ask for an apology. (In case you’re wondering what to do if the child keeps getting off the chair, you put them right back on.)
While we were watching the show, Omair and I thought that this would never work with us. We thought that every time we put Iman on the “naughty chair” she would keep coming off. I can’t imagine a 2 year old sitting down for 2 while minutes against their will.
So here’s our Super Nanny story…
Yesterday Omair was showing Iman a video on our digital camera. While she was watching herself on the little screen, she started getting goofy and was mishandling the camera. So I came down to her level, made eye contact, and in a firm voice, told her sit down and look at the video, otherwise the camera would break. She went and sat down, but a little while later; she got back up and started swinging the camera around again. This time before I could make it to her, the camera slipped from her hand and landed smack on the floor! For us this was a milestone moment, because we didn’t believe in using “active discipline” with Iman until now. Both Omair and I felt that there is no reason to punish a child who doesn’t know right from wrong. So here I was, looking into the huge eyes of my (almost) two year old, who was standing there quiet, because she knew what she had done was wrong. While maintaining eye contact, I told her that I had given her a warning, and now it was time to sit on the naughty chair (we had one, just never used it). I put her on… and she came off. So I put her on again, this time telling her that she will NOT get off until I come to get her. AND… she got up again! Soooo… I put her back again with the same warning. And this time… SHE STAYED ON!!
And after the grand 2 minutes, I asked her for an apology… and she said “Sorry Mommy” and then gave me hug.
Since then, she’s looked at the videos in the camera, but only sitting down.
I can’t believe it worked.
Or the cake?
Or the pile of presents?
Or the satisfied sleep once the excitement is all over?
