Aside from loving and caring for their kids, discipline is the most important thing parents do. Yet it’s also something many parents put very little thought into. We tend to resort to the same principles and techniques that our parents used with us, regardless of how effective or prudent these methods were. We react to problems as opposed to think through problems. We can also experience intense emotions in the heat of the moment, which can further undermine our efforts.

If you haven’t ever taken the time to analyze your discipline style and critique your tendencies, there’s a good chance you’re expending far more energy into discipline than you have to. The goal is to discipline smarter, not harder.

The next few sections will give you the knowledge and skills to accomplish this, so that you can raise better behaved children with fewer heartaches and hassles along the way.

How to discipline children

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