My son is a huge fan of kids. You’ll either find one of my neighbors’ small children in my house or he’ll be at theirs. 

He enjoys spending time with them, but in his desire to be with them, he is beginning to lose sight of his obligations. When I brought it to his notice, he made the necessary adjustments, but he would frequently do whatever he could in a hurry and in a shabbily manner simply to get to them. 

I once asked him to clean the room while I went about my business. I was curious as to why he was out in a matter of seconds. So I went in to see what he’d accomplished. He had repeated the same pattern, I noted. 

That was beyond him, so he finished his work and cried (he was much younger then). I chatted with him after a while and empathized with him about what had transpired. 

He was supposed to do something more for me the next day, and as he was leaving, he turned around and said, “Mum, let me access my work o before I lose my play time again.” That made us giggle. 

That is the rule of thumb. To function as a reminder for the next time, disciplinary measures must be related to the offense.”