The Thinking Chair

People often wonder what form of discipline we use on our boys. It’s simple. We’ve been using what we call the “thinking chair”. Before Dylan, we had the wall and the thinking chair for Aiden and later realized that the thinking chair was more effective than having Aiden stand at the wall. The rule of thumb is to set aside time out for one minute based on the child’s age.

We started to discipline our boys when they turned 18 months old. This was the perfect age in our book because they’ve developed language skills and can understand. We’ve incorporated bad behavior with the thinking chair. Nowadays, all we have to do is authoritatively say that if you don’t behave you’re going to the thinking chair and they will stay put. Nothing happens at the thinking chair besides the fact that they have quiet time and have to tell us what they did wrong. Then, we normally hug them afterwards to tell them we love them and not to behave that way again. The thinking chair is a boring place to be at and who wants to sit there when you can have fun.

If you ask Aiden what happens when he doesn’t listen, he will say “thinking chair”. Dylan also understands and would make this sad face. We’ve used the same chair in the nursery for a long time as their “thinking chair” when we’re home. However, if we’re out and about, we use different thinking chairs. It could be their car seat, restaurant chairs, etc. Chairs are everywhere and we normally make use of it, if we have to …

This is what happens in our home and if you’re a parent, I’m sure you have your own ways too. This is what works for us and we’ll continue to use it.

Happy Thursday!

Love my boys. XOXO.