When the intensity increases and your child loses control it's important to take a Break. With young children, as young as two or three years old, have them sit in a particular place, a chair, a carpet square, the hallway, or a bottom step. For...
One of the saddest things for parents is sibling conflict. You realize the long-term negative consequences of the fighting, teasing, and bickering between your kids. You want your children to have close relationships as they get older but it seems that they're determined to undermine...
Conflict forces young people to wrestle with things in their hearts. Their desires, emotions, and beliefs get intertwined and they often aren’t thinking straight. Conflict also helps teens develop tools for handling differences in life. Three life skills are exercised in every conflict situation: Problem...
Unfortunately, many children don't realize when they've crossed the line from persistence to demandingness. That line is crossed when children value their issue as more important than the relationship. When a child yells at a parent or says unkind things because he doesn't get what...
Many parents find themselves frustrated with emotional outbursts in their children and don't know how to correct without getting emotionally involved. One of the key indicators of maturity in kids is the ability to manage and communicate emotions in a healthy manner. But when they...
Firmness says that a boundary is secure and won’t be crossed without a consequence. Harshness, on the other hand, uses angry words and emotional intensity to make children believe that parents mean what they say. Ask yourself an important question about your own parenting. What...
Getting the job done is important, but what about the rolling eyes or huffing and mumbling? Is a bad attitude inevitable? Sometimes parents excuse the attitude by saying, “At least he did what I asked.” Others use excuses like, “She’s tired,” or “He’s only eight”...
“The answer is no.” How does your child respond to that statement? Handling disappointment is part of life and knowing how to respond well to limits is part of maturity. But some children have a difficult time when they don’t get what they want. They pout, throw temper tantrums,...