Keeping Your Cool
by Teresa, The CuteKid™ Staff|
One of the hardest thing as a parent is staying calm and in control when you are facing
a child created disaster or your child is acting out. Yet getting upset and yelling at
your kids only teaches them to do the same thing when they are angry over something.
As you are dealing with misbehavior keep these ideas in mind to calm down: 1. Don’t take the things that your child says while upset personally. The first time my son said, “I hate you,” I wanted to cry. Now I realize that he is just expressing his anger. I remind him that we don’t tell people we hate him and then wait for him to apologize. Sometimes it takes a few hours, but he always does. 2. There is a difference between yelling and raising your voice. I try not to yell at my children but I do raise my voice. In a stern no-nonsense tone I will tell them what I do or do not want them to do. 3. Sometimes you will not stay calm and will yell at your kids or say something you later regret. If you do, apologize. Tell them that you were wrong and that your behavior was not appropriate. 4. In extreme situations don’t say anything immediately. Take some time to really think about what you want to say. Sometimes I tell my children that we will discuss the situation when their father gets home. This gives me a chance to cool off and time to talk with my husband about an appropriate punishment. Children are going to get into trouble and do things that we don’t like. With the help of these calm down tips, we can learn not to react but can choose to act. It is up to us as parents to teach our children the appropriate ways to act when angry by modeling them ourselves. |
