Positive Discipline: What Every Parent Should Practice

By now, most of you must have known that I left a relatively comfortable life in Davao and my four-year old Leia to work in Zamboanga City for Save the Children. I handle the communications of the emergency response team to the 23-day armed conflict. But that is for another post.

I was confident that I was raising Leia well, except for those times when I'm on my wits' end on how to instill discipline. As a solo parent, the responsibilities of raising her to be a complete individual all fell on my bony shoulders. I rarely spank her and I would always comfort and assure her after each episode of physical discipline. And I was proud of it - until I worked for Save the Children where children's rights are at the crux of everything we do. 

Children can't wait. - Save the Children

One of our national advisers, Ms Wilma Banaga (for Child Protection) came to Zamboanga to handle a training and I mentioned to her how her posts on Save the Children's official Facebook page made me realize a lot of things about disciplining my little one. In one of her FB comments, she mentioned that spanking is spanking whatever the purpose may be. She suggested that I download the ebook on Positive Discipline in Everyday Parenting by Save the Children. 

This ebook is priceless BUT free!

Ina-Tay and discipline

"For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it" - Hebrews 12:11 (ESV)

Image from the web

Birds and the bees 2013 version

I recently stumbled on this photo on my FB personal page. As a mommy blogger, I just found it downright funny. I shared it and immediately some friends thought so too. I think it is the tech age's version of the classic birds and the bees story when kids start getting curious how babies are made.

I tried to look back and remember what my folks' response was to me when I asked them this dreaded question. I can't remember anything! I believe I was already in elementary when I began understanding reproduction and became enlightened. Now that my daughter is three, she is becoming more and more inquisitive until one night, while I was putting her to sleep, she asked me, "Mama, saan galing ang babies"? Believe me, it beats the work of an alarm clock because after I heard her question, my brain immediately went to fifth gear. Yikes, heaven help me come up with a respectable answer - pronto!