Please, Don’t Slam the Door!
My Chronicles — By Dr. Mommy on June 4, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Do those words sound familiar? If you have teens then you have probably used the same words or perhaps a bit more colorful ones at least once in your home.
Well, since we don’t get a parenting manual when our children are born, we have to learn by trial and error. Everyday, I apologize to my eldest child, because she was actually my guinea pig. Actually, the other children have seen what she has attempted to do, and the punishment she has received so they are also learning.
You see, I don’t agree with spanking although there are times, that it is necessary. What I would rather do is take away privledges and teach them lessons in that manner.
So, going back to the slamming door issue. One of the things I will not tolerate is a child slamming the door to their room when they are aggravated or for any reason. So, I usually will give a warning and ask them nicely not to slam the door. I also do not allow locking of doors. But that is another subject all together.
My eldest child when she was 10..oh yes, the lovely age of 10…not quite a child but not yet a teen…I guess they call them ‘tweens’. Apparently that is the ‘in-between’ stage and not a very nice one at that. Well, she decided that she was going to slam the door and lock it! Oh No!! Big Mistake!
I calmly proceeded to remove the door knob to her bedroom door. The look on her face was priceless. I calmly told her that slamming and locked doors in our home were unacceptable so she lost her door knob for a week.
After a week, she received the door knob back and all was well for a few days. Well, apparently the hormones were ranging again and you guessed it, she slammed the door again. Well, I consider myself a patient person, but there are those times when my Spanish temper will come out and this was one of those times.
I once again, calmly approached my tween’s bedroom door and knocked to get her attention. She refused, so you can imagine what came next. First offense, removal of door knob..second offense, removal of door. Oh yes, I removed the entire door. My daughter was horrified, I bet she was wishing I would just spank her. {evil giggle}
She did not get her door for 2 weeks. You can guess what happened next. Well, she never to this day has slammed her door, no matter what hormones may be ranging at the time. And, my younger children were witnesses to the entire fiasco, so they have never slammed their bedroom doors either.
So, there are ways that children can be punished and lessons to be taught. I choose to pick unique ones to give my children childhood memories they can then pass on to their children. Ahhh…parenthood, gotta love it!
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3 Comments
Bravo! I have to try this at my house too. Mine are 13 and 11 and I think this would work beautifully! Now if I can just get them to quit arguing!
Kudos! I always look for impressionable ways to get then to “get” my point. Yes, a door removal will do just that. I unfortunately have two kids that are 6 and 7, and it is my son who is a door slammer and he is 6! Wheew and he is also spanish and italian (nice “low key” personality – not!) and this method is getting stored in my future door slam consequence file. Thanks again.
priceless that your child/ren learned from the experience. ours didn’t. of course, we are the meanest parents in the world. no comprehension that if the door wasn’t slammed, the door knob, the door, and privacy would have all remained. years later, we’re still to blame….