not sure when this new disciplinary technique turned up. definitely wasn’t about when i was a kid. six of the best was a fairly common occurance when dad came home.
but the naughty step is certainly all the rage now. Obviously it only really works if you have steps. As we lived in a flat with a long corridor it was not very practical to implement. Plus all the neighbours would see how often the kids would be sitting there and would jump to conclusions that we couldn’t control our offspring.
The eldest is a bit stubborn and usually ended up in trouble. Some say she takes after her mother. I don’t make that comparison. But others have.
Our solution to the naughty step was the “naughty corner”. The benefit of this is that almost where ever we were there was generally a corner close by where she could be placed. The only place we ever came unstuck was at the circus.
One Saturday morning she had been playing up again and ended up in the kitchen corner.
At some point in the morning some friends popped over for a quick chat. we lived in a lively part of town and often had people pop in for a free coffee and biscuit rather than pay at one of the local cafes.
we were having a good old chin wag when the mate returns from getting some more biscuits from the kitchen and says “is it normal that number 1 is sitting on her own in the kitchen?”
“oh yeah, she was being naughty this morning”
“but we arrived 2 hours ago, she hasn’t moved all this time?”
We might have forgotten she was there. But you can’t get enough discipline.