Emily Chan
Kids not listening is one of the most common complaints heard from parents. How many times have you told your child to stop hitting their sibling or jumping on the couch? Probably too many to count.
And when they continue to ignore you and defy your requests outright, you desperately resort to yelling and maybe even bribing.
There’s no shame in it. At some point, every parent on planet Earth has screamed at their little ones in frustration or tried to entice them into displaying good behavior.
But if you’re finding yourself making threats and barking orders more and more often, try taking a minute to reflect on your methods and consider what consequences they could have on your child in the long run.
Yelling, threatening, and bribing may be effective in the moment, but it doesn’t really get the behavior to change or stop. So don’t take the easy way out.
We know it’s tough to keep your cool when the kids are running wild, but patience and gentleness are key here. Threatening your child will only work to turn you into someone your child fears and resents.
And yes, they’re scared of you even if they’re not visibly flinching at your harsh words. As a result, they will obey simply out of necessity and fail to learn how to respect you as a parent.
Eventually, as your child grows older, there will likely be many more arguments and conflicts between the both of you. And when this happens, you will get frustrated, wondering where you went wrong.
Ultimately, you and your child are taking your feelings out on each other, thus enabling a cycle of bad behavior.
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