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:

POUTING

Question: How can I get my daughter to stop pouting?

Behavior: Pouting.

Problem: Hard to break the downward spiral.

Solution: Lay some groundwork in advance.

Activity: Lean over to your daughter and whisper that you have a secret to tell her. Then, pause dramatically and say, "I love you." Do this before she's pouting. Repeat until she begins answering for you.

Once I laid this groundwork with my son, I had a great way to subtly intervene when I didn't like the direction of his behavior. Now every time I pull him aside and say, "I have a secret to tell you," he jumps in with, "You love me!" and I feign surprise, "How did you know I was going to say that?!" He's effectively distracted, and he feels smart and loved. Everybody wins.

  • Want Rustin's solution for your child's challenging behavior? Read his bio and post a question at forums.minnmoms.com/index.php?topic=445.0 on the Naughty Column forum.

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