Discipline is the
Only Choice

if you want your child to have a happy life
By Karen Braveheart

The Prodigi Kids parenting paradigm uses discipline- what I call “teachable moments” to teach your children about their choices and does it in a way that builds self worth inside their impressionable brains.

Why discipline? The true definition of discipline, or teaching, has the power and potential to change your life and the life of your child in the most positive ways.

Typically, when we think about punishment, we see our child’s behavior as a wrong that needs to be corrected. Parents often think they’re disciplining their child, but what they’re really doing is punishing or shaming them. The origin of the term, “discipline” is much different. 

The word “discipline” is from the Latin word disciplina, meaning instruction. It is derived from the root word “discere”- to learn.

With discipline comes thoughts of instruction, teaching, learning, knowledge- basically, a student of education. It does not mean to punish, shame, hit, or insult.

Choosing to discipline your child and not punish them is a choice that you make and then practice through daily commitment to your choice.

I’ve been a mom for 17 years and experienced the craziest and most stressful of situations with my three munchkins. It got chaotic at times and I was always outnumbered. I was tested again and again and had to dig deep many times to remain patient and discipline them with “teachable moments”- not punish or shame them.

I choose discipline 100% of the time and always will because I know firsthand how punishing and shaming your child leads only to negative outcomes. I was that child. Read this blog for a child’s perspective on how damaging it is to punish/shame your child.

I’m not a perfect parent. I do my best every day to raise my kids with self worth!

You’ll have to make this choice every day

When you feel stressed

When you feel tired

When you’re on your last nerve and have nothing more to give

When you wish you could be in a bubble bath but you’re in Rite Aid buying cotton balls at 10pm for your son’s 2nd grade George Washington project that he suddenly remembered at 8pm that’s due the next day. (True story!)

You’ll have to dig deep in the hardest of moments with your kids when you feel like just running away. But you must show up and choose discipline.

There’s a reason God put you in your child’s life at that stressful moment.

The upside is priceless. You’ll be giving your child self worth, the key ingredient to achieving true happiness in all areas of their life. What bigger gift can you possibly give your child than self worth?

We teach parents how to use “teachable moments” to help their child understand the consequences of their choices AND build self worth at the same time.

Let me show you how this works with real life situations with my own three munchkins. When my toddler would run after the cat, Phoebe, and try to grab her tail, I taught them empathy- to love themselves and others, and how that would make them feel if someone pulled their tail.

The way I did it was to pull on their hair gently and say ouchie so they could understand the cause/effect on their body and apply it to that cat.

It worked every time- kids are smart and intuitive, and they love to learn. Sometimes it took more than once for them to get it but they always did.

I didn’t have to yell at them. I didn’t have to spank them to stop. I simply taught them and then it was never an issue again.

So, not pulling on the cat’s tail is really teaching them to internalize empathy.

But putting in a few minutes of my time to teach them in that moment, I made my life so much easier long term by never having to revisit it again.

And the most beautiful part is that they now understood empathy! Not to mention it was a huge time saver for me!

When you teach them until they get it, you’ll never have to discipline them again. This means more peace and freedom for you as a parent.

Phoebe was a lot happier too!

This is where Prodigi Kids can best support you. We’ll show you how to make parenting enjoyable even in the most stressful of interactions and if you haven’t read our eBook, I highly encourage you to do so. It’s free.