Discipline - Pittsburgh,PA

I just got a book Loving without spoiling... they got some good stuff. or 1,2,3 magic. My daughter, 2 and a half, does not listen but today I tried some of the stuff in the book and it worked. There's a book called have a new kid by friday that I heard had some good concepts in it. I like reading books because 1. I'm a book worm, and 2. It's interesting to see what psychologists and other peoples opinions are.

Dont acknowledge that hes laughing at you or your punishment. He is just trying to get you to be angry and forget the punishment, and get a rise out of you. If you just continue on with your discipline and dont play into it, he will get the picture that you arent playing his game.

Oh gosh, sorry but I had to laugh.
Not at you, but at the situation.
My rascal son, did that too.

He doesn't do that anymore.
I have to be more concrete with him. Different than my daughter.

See what makes your son tick... then discipline him in a manner that will matter to him, affect him.

I, personally, think little kids do this as a defense maneuver...way to divert your attention. I don't think they think getting in trouble is funny, it's more a matter of...."Mommy, I'm funny and cute and if I can make you laugh, you'll forget I just did something I'm not supposed to."
It doesn't matter if he laughs as long as he knows you are serious and the punishment is going to stick no matter what.
My kids didn't try it often, but I would just say things like, "We'll see how funny you think it is when you are in your room when everyone else is watching a movie."
I always followed through with things like that though so they usually quit trying to get out of trouble by being cute pretty quick.
I have a sense of humor and like I said, if my kids tried the funny routine, fine. It didn't get them out of anything though.
Your son is just trying to divert your attention. Let him know it won't work.
When he grows up, maybe he can make a living being funny, but for now....it might only buy him double time out.

Best wishes.

First of all do not yell at him. If you are yelling then he may think it is funny. Change your tone of voice with him. Tell him, I am the boss not you. Make a behavior chart. Every day he is good then give him a star. At the end of the week take him to the store and buy him a toy or may be save all the stars and do something he has been looking forward to. Get him involved with his behavior and how he reacts to things.You do not have to yell,just let him know in a firm voice you keep it up you will not earn a star today. The chart will be a constant reminder of how he is behaving. good luck

Do you know if he is laughing on purpose (as some posters suggested, this can be a diversion tactic or a way to challenge you) or is it because he's upset? Our son - almost five - truly can't control himself at times, as laughter is his anxiety reflex. We've had many conversations about it with him. He doesn't know why it happens and really wishes he could control it. He clamps his little hands over his mouth, tries to will himself to stop, and then bursts into hysterical crying (trust me, there are times that the laughing is better than the shrieking tears). I haven't found a way to help him other than to acknowledge that he can't help it and that I need to react differently... getting upset with him only makes it worse for both of us. I'm sure this doesn't help you, but at least you know that you're not alone ;)

It's hard to help, not knowing what the discipline you're using is and why that might not be working for him.

Generally speaking, it sounds like whatever you're doing - whatever you're taking away, for instance, or the fact he's being sent to his room or whatever -- isn't his "currency." The idea is to find what's "currency" for him -- what he really values so much that losing it affects him. If you're taking away (again, just for instance) his TV time for the day, and he doesn't really care about watching TV all that much, you're not removing something he values, so he doesn't care. If he's being sent to his room but his room is full of stuff he likes anyway, his books or toys, then he's not losing anything through that form of discipline.

Figure out what he would most regret losing and want to win back so much that he would feel, for lack of a better term, the pain of losing it temporarily. Meanwhile, please do not ever let him see that the laughing makes your blood boil -- you may feel that, we all would, but don't let him SEE it! Stay as cool as ice if you possibly can. He will soon learn he can't get a rise out of you by laughing.

The laughing and disrespect is a brand new offense that needs separate serious attention every time. Don't let it be an exchange he wins by "throwing you off your game" with laughing. If he's ever succeeded at this, it will continue. If he understands (by experiencing it) that a serious consequence is the result of such disrespect, he will not continue it. Also, sounds like your discipline is not serious enough. My kids have never laughed during discipline. Read this site to see if it may help-the book is great.
www.backtobasicsdiscipline.com

in a calm time, discuss this with him. it's possible that he's not doing it to anger you or get out of anything, but experiencing anxiety and doesn't know how to handle it. But it absolutely must change, and he needs your guidance to change it. He's old enough to be able to face some questions and solutions -- how does it feel when you get "in trouble"? Are there other times you laugh when you shouldn't? What are some other choices you have in how to behave yourself when these situations come up? Maybe you can give him a cooling off period when you need to discipline him, so he knows something is coming but he has a chance to calm down and collect himself before facing you? I'm not sure what the answer is, but I think if you approach him with a teamwork, let's figure this out approach, and not when you're angry, you'll have more success.

He's just nervous because he knows how much he disappointed you :(
Reassure him that it is your job to discipline him-it means you love him and you care about his behavior and about him learning right from wrong so that he will lead a happy, productive life. Stay calm-their hope is that you'll blow!

Hi, S.:

When your son does this, ask him questions about his behavior:

1. Explain to me what just happened?
2. What were you thinking at the time?
3. What do you think now?
4, Who has been affected by how you are reacting?
5. In what way?
6. What do you think you need to do to make things right?

See what the results are and then explain your point of view.

Hope this helps.
Good luck.
D.