I am not a parent, but I work with kids in church.  I really like the concept especially the alternative to time-out.

I found that interesting too Hilary.  

Sometimes when I'm out, I see parents rushing along, cellphone in one hand, kid dragging along in the other - more attention seems to be on the phone than the child, which I find rather sad. 

Thanks for the interesting link.  I will be sharing it with some parents!  

When did it become fashionable to respond to an inquiry about well-being - such as  

"How are you?" - with "Busy"?  What is so fascinating about being BUSY?  We need to take some unbusy times too.

"Busy" seems to have become a status statement - i.e. busy = very important & in demand.   I completely agree kay - the unbusy times are so important to our bodies, brains and spirit - and our children :-)   Even the children are "busy" - scheduled to the max - no time to just hang about and daydream, cuddle and read stories ... 

There is plenty of cause for alarm around 'busy children'. This article spells out the damage that the kids receive when they are deprived of time to play.    I see children who don't seem to comprehend role playing games (we used to call it 'pretending when I was young').  I heard of a child who was finding school almost unbearably restrictive due to his own behavior.  Somehow he arrived at kindergarten almost unaware that other children had feelings - both physical and emotional!

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/give-childhood-back-to-children-if-we-want-our-offspring-to-have-happy-productive-and-moral-lives-we-must-allow-more-time-for-play-not-less-are-you-listening-gove-9054433.html