Pin Your Forehead to the Wall – A mothers solution for peace (This is hilarious)

Well, now I have heard everything! 

Locked in with your students. Have you wished for less running through the halls, less wrestling across the couch and floor, and a few minutes without the shrill voices of wrangling discord. (Well, it may not be all THAT bad, but it may feel like it.)

So, pin your kids foreheads to the wall. NO! I AM NOT KIDDING. But do not call child protective services, not yet anyway! 

One mother gave each child a twenty-dollar bill and set up a competition. Two rules: (a) no hands and (b) stand up. Whoever pinned that $20 to the wall with their forehead the longest could keep it. Game on. (By the way, the younger children watched in disbelief!). This mother earned herself several moments strung together of peace and quiet, time for several cups of coffee or time to get the bills paid in relative tranquility. 

I am sharing this with you because I am surprised at the visceral understanding of human nature that mothers possess. She didn’t need to take a course in classroom management. I am also amazed at the gentle problem solving that mothers employ. Here’s what she did right: 

1. She used humor instead of yelling at the kids and sending them to their rooms.

2. She did not bribe them, beg them, or coerce them into being good.

3. She used high motivation. (I mean, come on, who wouldn’t pin their heads to a wall for twenty bucks!

4. She used a challenge format, a game.

5. She was ready with simple rules and to change up the game.

6. She recognized that different methods are appropriate for different ages. (She didn't have the three year old play the game.)

Well, her 13 year-old daughter was the victor. Her older brother wiggled around so much toward the end of the competition that his bill fell to the floor. 

I’m not suggesting that all parents hustle down to the bank and withdraw $20 bills. But what I am suggesting is that the same principles used here can de-escalate fidgety behavior after weeks of lock-in when tensions can run high  – use humor, motivation instead of punishment, make it a game, employ their imagination, be ready with the next act when needed.

And if you don’t have a twenty to spare, maybe a five will do. Cheap at the price! 

I invite comments, suggestions, ideas. 

If you have questions that I might be able to answer generally, please email me. Please, keep in mind that this blog is for suggestions that may or may not work. Here is the disclaimer, professional advice requires much more in-depth information and contact and is beyond the scope of this blog.  email: gail.coulter@outlook.com.