I am not alone … I know that for sure.
I will share personal details in later posts and my aim is to make you feel like you are NOT the only parent who is drowning in an effort to keep up with the pressures of parenting. I am sharing my “pearls of wisdom” – blessed with hindsight – after 30 years of parenting, grandparenting and working with thousands of children in a behaviour management context. My company, Manners4Minors, began in 2007 and we continue with passion and dedication.
Maybe it’s media influence, commercials aimed at our young children instilling a sense of entitlement, television programmes that portray brattish behaviour as the lead roles or those “cute” little viral videos where children who act adult-like with cheekiness that we all chuckle at and share.
As I have given this more thought and become aware of the epidemic of Head of the Household children, I can see the damage that this is causing. Allowing a child to dictate (with you scrambling to keep up) is disastrous and dangerous – not only for you – the parent (although this can become unpleasant in a shopping mall when you have no control and darling wants a milkshake and she hasn’t finished her food), but also for the child who is confused by the relationship and the burden of not being led by non-negotiable disciplinary rules. This leaves them in a state of feeling insecure and boundary-less and us feeling ‘not good enough’. The thing is, our children NEED boundaries to feel safe. It is ironic that the very thing they fight against IS the thing they need most – no matter how much they protest. Just a note: some initiatives you implement regarding discipline can be negotiable, but you should be very clear on the ones that are not.
This clip is just 90 seconds and is worth a watch – although he refers to teens, I believe it is just as relevant to any age.
Next session:
Stop comparing and competing
