How would you make him see he is being really childish?

Question

I am a mom of7 and I am the first to admit I am quite strict but I love my kids and I am this way to protect them.As we have three kids under the age of five and a 12&14yr old my husband and I believe it is best to have a password on the entire computer and to have the kids ask permission to use it. This is mainly for my5yr old who gets into everything and anything.However only myself&my husband know the password.We told our14yr old before&he ended up telling his sister,leaving it on&generally being careless,so now only we know it.The other evening when my 14yr old had finished his homework he wanted to go online.I was out&my husband was on the phone so he asked him to wait5mis,the phone conversation went on longer then expected&my son kept interrupting.After20mins of waiting he through a tantrum BABY STYLE screaming and shouting the he was too old for this s*it blah blah blah.My husband spanked him and sent him to bed,he has been going to bed@7w/the baby since but he does not realise

why he had to be punished we have tried talking to him about it but he won't listen. I fell he needs further punishment.He gets plenty of extra priveledges as the teen of the family and loads of attention.What punishment would you impose or what would you do?

Answer 1

Sounds like you are doing most things right. My hunch is the 14 year old is jealous of some level of attention the younger ones are getting, and is doing what he had to to get more attention. He is definitely too old for this, but hey it is his choice. Your husband should have put the phone on hold after 10 min (after asking the son to wait for 5) but that does not excuse your son's childish behavior

Answer 2

Wow - you are strict. Why not set up his own user account with restricted privelages. That will keep your stuff safe if he is irresponsible and leaves the computer open, yet gives him some independence.

As a parent - we have a responsibility to keep our word to our children and if your husband said 5 minutes - he should have ended the phone conversation, or excused himself for a minute to go log into the computer for your son and then go back to his phone call.

We expect our kids to keep their word to us - why as parents do we think we don't owe our children the same?

Personally - I think the punishment was improper. Why punish your son when your husband didn't keep his word to him?

Answer 3

Wow 7 children. I really admire people who have the courage and strength to have a large family. I think that at 14 your son is getting to a stage that more punishment will only make him angry and rebellious. State clearly what you want from him and how he can earn back his privileges. Good luck.