Mild Amusement

When I was younger, my mom would send my siblings and I to a different room if we were bawling or throwing a tantrum.  Her reasoning was simple: she didn't want to deal with it.  So she came up with a very simple solution; the tantrum thrower in question would go to the other room, and let the tantrum run its course.  She would go about her usual day, and at some point, the kid and the adult would meet back up again to carry on with their day, minus the shenanigans. Now, you might think that a kid throwing a tantrum would be a poor choice for someone to leave unsupervised.  Heck, I know a similar thought has crossed my mind before.  However, my mom somehow made it work.  She managed to convince all three of her children that a trip to the crying room was not an invitation to cause mischief, despite the fact that we were in a foul mood and we technically had no direct adult supervision in that moment.  I'm not even sure that she had to put the fear of...

I've heard it said that fear is a good motivator, and to a certain extent, I agree.  It's not that I'm trying to be all Machiavellian about how I deal with people, but I think that there are certain things you should be scared about.  For example, if you have a kid, you should be a little worried about screwing up how you raise him.  It's that little bit of fear that drives people to be good parents, I think.  You want a good way to constantly keep the kid's best interest at heart?  Be scared of screwing up. Anyhow, I've found that this mentality is applicable to other aspects of life (I don't have any kids floating around anywhere).  In particular, it reminds me to be good about having my morning snack.  See, I usually try to have a fruit around 8AM, because it keeps me going until lunch time.  It's also a good way for me to maintain some balance in my diet, as it's a built-in time to have some fruit every day.  However, that's also righ...