It is part of nature for young people to rebel. In fact, we may be hard pressed to find a grownup who hasn’t tried to push boundaries. As the adult it is on us to teach our youth what we will or will not tolerate. We should think first and not react. A steady and calm voice will reap much more than it would were we to shout at them. Second, teach your child. Why were their actions wrong and how can they do the right thing next time? Lastly, do what you say you are going to do. Children will not have faith in your words if you do not follow through with them.
A child is going to throw a tantrum at some point to see if you will give in. The more you bend the likelier you are to break but the one at fault is the parent for not having boundaries in the first place. Or for not sticking to them, which is worse. We will not get far if we snap at our kids out of anger. When a child asks “why?” Our response should not ever be “because I said so.” It is not good enough to be the boss. It takes more than size to be the bigger person. They are never too young to learn respect, but we have to give it to them to teach it to them. (Heritage House ’76, 2012)
This article was written and published by Cheryl Connor. Cheryl has since retired, and all posts she created have been associated with Jenifer Whitemire.
