Last week I watched this movie. Have you seen it?

It’s called Grace is Gone, and it is about a father who is faced with the task of telling his two daughters that their mother was killed in combat. Do not watch this movie without a large supply of tissues on hand. Or with people you just met because doing the shoulders-heaving/snot-dripping/barely-able-to-breathe-kind-of-cry with semi-strangers is always awkward.

But don’t let the guaranteed chance of crying deter you, I highly recommend this movie.

You all know I have baby fever, and that a considerable portion of my time is spent dreaming of Those Ones, and this baby fever has me thinking often about different parenting techniques I would like to use one day. I found myself often disagreeing with the harsh and often smothering tactics the father used to keep his daughters in mind, but I thought he used a really interesting technique when he caught his daughter smoking on the sidewalk outside their hotel with a random boy she had met that day.

Instead of alienating her by dealing out harsh punishments she doesn’t understand, he takes her to a gas station and buys 2 packs of cigarettes. They head over to a secluded spot behind the station and sit down together. He pulls out both pack and lets her choose which brand she would like, saying to her, “If you are going to be smoking, I’d rather you do it with me than with some boy you have never met.” He inhales, offers it to her, she inhales, and he starts to cough (indicating that smoking it is awful). She instantly jumps up and runs inside to buy him some water. He takes one last puff while she has her back turned (with a sneaky smile on his face), and puts the cigarette out.

I found this alternative approach to dealing with a common parenting problem very interesting. I think a lot of parents are often hypocritical in their punishments because they say “You can’t do this but I can.” Or they punish their children without explaining why they are so unhappy or disappointed with the child’s actions.

What alternative parenting techniques have you seen or heard about? How did your own parents approach discipline when you were growing up?