when his parents got home they were ready for him.
When King Louis hit 3 for the first time, he could not believe what
happened. How his parents got him to his room for his first rest
period is still a mystery, but when he got there, he totally—and I
mean totally—trashed the place. His first tactic, and perhaps the
favorite of all room wreckers, was to empty his dresser and throw his
clothes all over the floor. Then he ripped the blankets and sheets off
his bed. Next he pushed the mattress and box spring off the bed
frame. Then he proceeded to his closet, took out all his hanging
clothes, and threw them all over the room. After that, he tossed all his
toys out of the closet. Finally, he went to the window and tore down
his curtains.
What did his parents do? Amazingly, they didn’t call me for help.
The first thing they did was nothing! They didn’t clean up the mess or
have King Louis clean it up. Any cleaning up would have meant
loading the boy’s gun again for the next time-out when he’d have
another perfectly neat room to wreck. Second, Mom and Dad
continued to count their son aggressively but fairly.
When the boy earned a 3, he got a 3 and a consequence. No
fudging around with fractions such as, “That’s 2 and a half, that’s 2
and three-quarters.” The parents would hit him with his well-earned 3
and then send him to his bedroom to rearrange the trash. When
bedtime came, this boy had to find his pajamas. He also had to find
his bed. In the mornings, his clothes for school didn’t match for a
week.
How long did it take for King Louis to learn that there was new
management in the old maison? It took about ten days for him to start
calming down during time-out. Then, after three or four days of
peaceful time-outs, his parents helped him clean up his room. After
that—believe it or not—he hated to be counted, and his parents would
stop him on a dime with a count of 1.
Now, did we break this boy’s spirit? Was he going to be a
marcin
(Marcin)
#1