Positive Discipline Tool Card - Sense of Humor

Humor can help parents and children “lighten up”.


1) Remember to laugh and have fun.
2) “Here comes the tickle monster to get kids who don’t pick up toys.”
3) When kids are fighting, gently tackle them and say, “Pig Pile.”
4) Be sensitive to times when humor is not appropriate.



First of all...Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. My kids took me out for brunch today and it was nice to relax and be treated like a king for a day. Now I am settling in to watch the final round of the U.S. Open.

This weeks Positive Discipline Tool Card is so important. A sense of humor is absolutely invaluable in parenting. You need to be able to have a sense of humor with your children and also have a sense of humor with yourself. I am particularly lucky to have a daughter who has a great sense of humor. She is always keeping me on my toes. My son doesn't always get me sense of humor, but I keep trying. I guess that is where #4 comes in to play "Be sensitive to times when humor is not appropriate". I probably tend error on the side of using humor too much. So I could probably focus on observing that this week.

I've tried to use sense of humor when dealing with the "Jobs" tool card that we introduced last month. My kids have been complaining every day about doing their jobs. You would think I was running a sweat shop the way they whine. They are particularly opposed to doing the dishes. "I hate doing the dishes!" is a very common phrase in our house. But I just remind them that nobody likes doing the dishes and that is why we are taking turns.

I have also found out that whenever you put a system in place, I have to be prepared for my kids to hold me accountable. I had a very busy day of work a couple days ago and I didn't have time to do my daily chore of the dishes. My son came up to me in the afternoon and said "Uh...Dad...I want to make lunch, but there aren't any clean knives, or pans, or plates." Oops! Busted! Then a few minutes later my daughter came up to me and said "Dad...you really need to do you job." Busted again! I lost a little bit of credibility that day.

I hope everybody has a great week! It's time for me to get back to the U.S. Open. :-)