Story highlights
- A timeout is basically abandoning your kid when they need you most
- When you remove the option of distance and solitude, you have no choice but to engage
Go Ask Your Dad is parenting advice with a philosophical bent as one dad explores what we want out of life, for ourselves and our children, through useful paradigms and best practices. Share your insight at the CNN Parenting Facebook page.
(CNN)Without meaning to, my wife and I conducted an A-B experiment while disciplining our two children. They are 4½ years apart, and somewhere in that gap -- thanks to the suggestions of the progressive, mindful parenting books we regularly consume -- we did away with the popular refuge of nearly all parents (probably since the dawn of time): the "timeout." As some Neanderthal dad probably yelled, "Go to your part of the cave until you've calmed down!"