to learn lessons at emotional times, when the lessons will be best
remembered. In other words, if the kids walk to school, no taking
them in the car so they won’t be late. And no notes excusing their
tardiness!Finally, replace anger with sadness when they make mistakes.
Wise parents, when seeing that their kids will be late, say, “Oh,
honey, I’m sorry you’re going to have a problem with your teacher. I
sure hope you work it out.”This dialogue shows how to discuss the getting-up-on-time issue with
our kids:
DAD: “What time does the school bus come in the morning, Zach?”
ZACH: “8:20.”
DAD: “So, what time do you want to get up?”
ZACH: “Oh, eight.”
DAD: “Great. How are you going to get up?”
ZACH: “You’ll come and wake me.”
DAD: “Well, I always used to do that. But now you’re eight years
old and most of the kids your age wake themselves up. So how do
you think you’ll wake yourself up?”
ZACH: “My alarm clock.”
DAD: “Good idea. You can set the alarm and get up at eight.”
ZACH: “What if I sleep through it?”
DAD: “Well, you’ll probably end up being late.”
ZACH: “Oh.”
DAD: “How will you explain your absence to your teacher?”
ZACH: “That’s easy: You can write an excuse for me.”
DAD: “I’ll be glad to write the truth — that you are having a hard
time getting yourself to school and that I will back the school on its
punishment.”
ZACH: “But if I’m late all the time, they might fail me!”