My mother was a sweet loving intelligent woman. You might think her children took advantage of that and walked all over her. Not so.
Mom had a secret weapon that kept us in line. We called it her go-to-hell look. Not in front of her of course; we were not allowed to swear.
If we ever did something wrong she would just give us that look. It made us feel like we had deeply disappointed her. We would feel her anger. We would feel like scum.
Often the look would be accompanied by, "I hope you had fun." As if we could not feel any lower.
Then came punishment.
Mom was never unfair. Punishment ranged from extra chores to being grounded.
We had a lot of freedom. We were also expected to behave. It is a good balance.
thecontemplativecat here. My mom had the "Stare", and it worked well for us also.
ReplyDeleteThose looks were more effective than a threat with a baseball bat. They made you feel like you were vermin.
Delete"The look". I wonder if kids would notice that these days!
ReplyDelete