Exercise as punishment

gcvmom

Here we go again!
After husband and I recently came to the end of our rope with the kids and foul language, we decided to give them exercises to do as punishment for their transgressions. :D

This morning, difficult child 1 & 2 earned 20 push-ups each for their choice of words. Then difficult child 2 shoved his sister and started to call her a sh!t, so he earned MORE.

Time outs just weren't cutting it. And losing privileges only goes as far as they have privileges. I'm not sure if it's working yet, but at least they'll be in better shape! And I can implement this ANYWHERE.
 

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
That is great! husband makes K do pushups and situps when she has too much energy at night. He tells here, "If you have sooo much energy lets do some situps or pushups or stretch"
She does it and it helps.
 
B

bran155

Guest
Great idea!! Thinking outside the box is absolutely necessary when dealing with our wonderful difficult children and that is a good one. I wish someone was here to order me to exercise as I am so in need of it!!! lol
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Does it work? Did he do it?

Please don't make me do it. I already walked 3 mi. today and I just want to be a couch potato for the rest of the day.
 

Andy

Active Member
I love it. Our difficult children need immediate discipline - those that drag out just don't always seem to do the job with them. Do keep us informed how well it works.

I for one will be watching my language around you; don't want to change my couch potatoe life style! :)

Actually someone did mention a couple weeks ago that it looks like I have lost weight - must be the bike rides this Spring before it became too hot. Saturday late morning went on another one - was a tad too hot but not bad. Will do more this fall.
 

mom_to_3

Active Member
I personally don't see a problem with this. I now have my 4 yr. old grandson living with us and the one thing I would ask (after our difficult child grandson) is...................... will your difficult child do the exercises when you dole out the punishment? My grandson is oppositional, and if he was being defiant enough to earn this "punishment" I know that right now, *I* could not make him do a push up?? HA! Good for you tho!
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
This method is used in The Defiant Child and also one of our old members who I havent seen in ages used a form of this. DadRich was his name and there may be posts by him in the archives. You may be able to find something in the archives about a Full Riley which is about the Defiant Child book.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
For those who've wondered if my difficult child's have been compliant -- yes, for the most part they have. I do threaten to double the punishment for trying to get out of it. Sit-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks are usually what we dole out at home, and if it's something in the car, I've pulled over if we're near a field, park or some other open space to have them run. We live at the top of a 1/2 mile hill which they also get to walk or jog down and back if the behavior is particularly wild. If the offender is really oppositional, I wait until they've cooled down and then they serve their sentence. Sometimes just the mention of "Who wants to do some push-ups?" is enough to shut them up. We'll see how long it lasts. Sometimes we have to change techniques don't we?

Don't get me started on couch potato philosophy... I'm definitely a spud these days!
 

susiestar

Roll With It
We found this to be very useful when Wiz was younger. One of the interns at the psychiatric hospital was a former military drill sargeant, so he heard a LOT of "drop and give me 10". It really worked well while it lasted because it worked off some of that extra energy too.
 

Steely

Active Member
This was/is the most effective form of punishment for difficult child. More than any other one thing. Running or riding his bike up and down the block multiple times while I am watching is my favorite and the most effective.
 

mstang67chic

Going Green
I never used it as punishment but stumbled across this method one day when difficult child was almost literally bouncing off the walls. He made a comment about having so much energy so I jokingly told him to go run laps around the back yard. To my surprise, he DID! From then on we had him do that when he needed to burn energy and sometimes he would even do it on his own!
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Interesting on using the exercise to get rid of the foul language. We're doing something similar right now to try and get difficult child to stop swearing. Every time he swears he has to do a chore. He's not liking it too much but I'm getting a lot of work done!
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
All I can say ladies is that great minds think alike! It's nice to know we're in good company with this :D
 
M

ML

Guest
I will try this. He already does pushups at TKD for transgressions so this should be a natural leap! Great idea.
 

timer lady

Queen of Hearts
I've never used exercise as a punishment/consequence. I tend to use it as a distraction or redirection for kt & wm. Especially for wm with his high levels of energy.

When wm still lived here I'd tell him his body was so busy that he needed to run around the block 4 times or he wouldn't be able to sit at the table for dinner. Many times I'd have him do laps about the house before bedtime ~ just for an energy release.

I do the same for kt ~ she isn't as "busy" as wm. However, there are times her body is running on high & needs to expend that energy.

I've never wanted the tweedles to see exercise as a negative, but as something they can use for their bodies.

Exercise in our home is for good health & help for the body. Just another thought on the subject.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
Linda, I completely understand your point. Fortunately, we've got other physical activities the difficult child's enjoy doing that will serve them well into their adult years if they develop an aversion to push-ups and sit-ups! I'm hoping the aversion they actually DO develop is to the foul language and over-the-top behaviors. We'll see how long this lasts. Like I've said before, we often have to change our techniques in parenting difficult child's.
 
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