you’re very close to home. The problem may be that the rest period
comes too long after the offense. In addition, the demand for a time-
out when you walk in the door may simply start another fight, because
often by the time you get home everybody has forgotten the original
problem.
On longer car rides and on vacations, counting can be used as
effectively as on short trips. But other tactics are often helpful.
Some alternative tactics that parents have used successfully in the
car include the usual—and very helpful—activities like the alphabet
game and car bingo. Putting one child in the front seat and one in the
back can help, as can using a DVD player (and renting twenty
movies!) or leaving at four in the morning so the kids sleep away the
largest part of a four- or five-hour ride. Telling the kids they get fifty
cents for every goat they see is also a brilliant maneuver to keep their
attention focused on something other than torturing each other.
The main point is this: don’t ever leave on a car ride with the kids
—especially on a long “vacation”—without putting on your thinking
cap first. Have the 1-2-3 and a few other tactics in your hip pocket,
because you’re going to need them.
Now that you understand something about counting (as well as
what to do when your child misbehaves in public), let’s take a look at
our 1-2-3 Magic Real-Life Story 1. The Case of the Temper Tantrum
Terrorist will explain in detail how one couple implemented counting
with their five-year-old son.
marcin
(Marcin)
#1