Creativity expert, professor, father and former day care provider Rustin Wolfe writes a weekly MinnMoms parenting advice column that uses creative punishments to put a positive spin on negative behavior.

Here's one of his creative solutions:

I CAN'T GET NO NONDISTRACTION

Question: My kid's good, but he gets distracted. How can I get him to focus on his chores?

Behavior: Distraction.

Problem: Incomplete tasks.

Solution: Measurement. More structure and more complexity can make a boring task more engaging.

Activity: Ask him how many bites he thinks he'll need to finish his broccoli. Ask him how many steps he thinks it'll take to get to the bathroom or how many minutes he thinks it'll require to pick up his toys. Offer your own guess, as well. Now, you've got a game. Who's closer? When he purposely takes the number of bites/steps/minutes so that he wins, you win because he has accomplished what you wanted.

  • Want Rustin's solution for your child's challenging behavior? Send questions to naughtycolumn@gmail.com.

  • Read the Naughty Column archive at http://www.minnmoms.com/naughtycolumn.