Have a New Kid by Friday - Dr Kevin Leman [108]
The old adage is right: sometimes love has to be tough. And sometimes you have to be the one to deliver that type of love. But if you do, the payoff will happen right in front of your eyes. You’ll be amazed!
You too can experience what thousands of families already have: a complete revolution of their relationships and family life. Just read this story from a mother of three. It sure made me smile.
TO: Dr. Kevin Leman
FROM: A no-longer overwhelmed mom in Texas
Dear Dr. Leman:
I attended the seminars you taught last weekend in Dallas, Texas. Thank you so much for the practical,easy-to-implement ideas. I put them into practice immediately.
After the talk on Monday morning, I gathered up my 3children (ages 6, 4, and 3) and started home, which wasabout 30 minutes away. Since it was lunchtime, I decidedto stop at McDonald’s to eat. While waiting in line toorder, my 4-year-old started whining and tattling. I told her we were leaving, and as I walked to the exit doorwithout any food, all three of my lovely children startedscreaming, crying, jumping up and down, etc. Peoplewere looking at us like we were a bunch of lunatics. I loaded them in the van and started home. They allcontinued screaming and crying, so I turned the radio on as loud as it would go. The oldest and youngest finallyquieted down, but Emma, the 4-year-old, continued topitch a fit. When we arrived at home, I didn’t say a word,just picked Emma up out of the car, walked in the house,and went straight to the back door. I put her outside,closed the door, and locked it. She continued crying foranother 10 to 15 minutes, while I proceeded to fix lunch. Once she quieted down, I let her in to have lunch, and allthree behaved quite well the rest of the afternoon.
My husband and I attended the Monday night sessionas well. Emma used to be a good sleeper, but a switchwas flipped when she turned 2, and bedtime has beenour battleground for 2 years. We’ve tried just abouteverything we could think of to get her to go to sleepwithout a fight. Although we had tried the isolationtechnique, it was usually paired with talking, a lecture,yelling, etc. As we listened to her screaming in her roomthat night after the session, I looked at my husband andsaid, “I think I’m going to put her outside.” He repliedwith, “I think I’ll help you.” We went upstairs, and withoutsaying a word, I pried Emma’s fingers from her coversand carried her, kicking and screaming, down to the back door. She even began screaming, “I want a spanking; I want a spanking; don’t put me outside.” I set herdown outside, closed the door, and locked it. Within 10seconds, I heard three little knocks on the door, followed by a very calm voice saying, “Mommy, I stopped mycrying.” When I opened the door, she headed upstairs,and we didn’t hear a peep out of her the rest of the night. Needless to say, my husband and I were amazed.
To speak plain English, this mom and dad decided they were no longer going to put up with little Miss Emma’s power plays. So they decided to take action.
They are not alone. Others who have tried the Have a New Kid by Friday strategies have said the following about their effectiveness:
“Try these principles—they really work. But no wimpsare allowed. I took the chaos out of my home, and noweverybody—including me—loves living there a lot more.” Wilma, South Carolina
“I was dubious at first when I heard about this as ‘themiracle cure,’ but it is. I’ve been a single dad for 5 years,and I’ve always felt bad that my 2 girls no longer havea mother. So I gave them everything they wanted, evenwhen I couldn’t afford it and had to do without somebasics myself to provide the latest toys for them. Then oneday, when they were 12 and 13, I realized, after they threwfits over not getting designer jeans, that I’d raised a coupleof brats. I was stunned. I felt even more inept. It wasn’tuntil a friend of mine talked about what she’d learned at one of your parenting seminars that I started