The
‘naughty corner’ or ‘thinking spot’ has long been a winner for frazzled parents
since its introduction by the Super Nanny in the early 2000s.
Back
in my day, although being sent to my room meant unwelcome solitude, there were
still plenty of toys to play with to keep me entertained.
But in
the confines of a boring old corner at the other end of the house, surely all
one can do is think about their behaviour?
Whatever
they spend their time there doing, it worked for us and, once we moved house,
the naughty corner became the naughty stair – the bottom step of the lower
staircase in the darkest, coldest recess of the house. They didn’t need long
there to learn their lesson.
These
days, however, the ‘naughty stair’ has become the ‘attitude stair’ and,
although it certainly isn’t kept warm, one child, in particular spends a small amount
of time on it. It can’t be pleasant sitting down there in the cold, dark and
facing the front door where visitors might come in and ask what they are doing
sitting there. Oh the shame of it!
This
morning, though, I thought about including the ‘sulking stair’ – the next step
up. One, who shall not be named, was particularly sulky before school this
morning and when I suggested this addition, they snapped right out of it and
even left for school with a smile.
This
gave me an idea: why, I could have a step named after every single unsavoury behaviour!
There could be the ‘grumpy stair’, the ‘annoying stair’, the ‘whinging stair’,
the ‘noisy stair’, the ‘hitting stair’, the ‘lazy stair’, the ‘messy stair’,
the ‘didn’t eat your dinner stair’, the ‘ganging up on your siblings stair’,
the ‘teasing about boyfriends/girlfriends stair’ … Perhaps I could even label
each one so we remember which is which. It could be like a front entrance
feature for our guests. I’m sure it would be original. My kids are pretty arty
so I could even get them involved in designing a placard for each one. Then
they could own it – that would work, wouldn’t it?
Perhaps
I could even create the ‘Mummy stair’ for myself to show I am taking it
seriously … or is that taking it too far?
I’m
not sure what happened to the Super Nanny, she seems to have dropped off the
radar but I wonder what she would think of my idea?
I will
keep you posted on the outcome of this little experiment … Now to await the
kids’ return from school and any naughty behaviour …