Drs. Cloud and Townsend on Supernanny
Clinical psychologists, authors, and talk-radio hosts, Drs. Henry Cloud and James Townsend spoke recently about Supernanny. Some of you may know them from their bestselling book, Boundaries, or one of its many spin offs (e.g. Boundaries with Kids.) I first heard them a few years back on their New Life Live call-in radio program, and have a fair amount of respect for their approach.
The two speak favorably about our Supernanny and her techniques, in particular the famous “naughty spot.” Though they echo Jo by adding that too many warnings significantly undermine the technique.
When done correctly, I believe putting a child in a timeout place is extremely effective. However, the biggest problem I see is that whatever form of discipline parents choose, they tend to do it after too many warnings. So it’s important to make it the child’s choice whether or not they go to timeout. And if the timeout chair is effectively miserable, then a normal kid won’t want to be there.
Are you familiar with Drs. Cloud and Townsend? Have you read one of the Boundaries books, and has it helped you as a parent?
By the way, their comments also remind me of an old joke about sending kids to their rooms, where they’ve got toys and TVs and videogames and phones. What kid wouldn’t want to go to their room?
