J. David Speaks: Is Your Kid Being A Brat?
So, your precious child is really a brat – what do you do?
The following steps will help in clearing up a bratty child, but this is not an easy process. It took a long time to become a brat and it will take some time, patience and consistency to clear it up. Sometimes it may get worse before it gets better. Again, go through the steps and stick to it as persistence will eventually pay off.
- Admit that you have a brat (seems simple, but this is a biggie for most parents).
- Recognize that brats are made and not born! So, being part of the problem, you’ll have to be part of the solution as well. Are you ready to make some changes?
- Step 1 – Figure out what you’ve done to encourage or perpetuate this behavior.
- Step 2 – Reclaim (for some, Claim) Power
- There must be fair and clear expectations as well as consequences.
- Be consistent – If you say something, do it. Nothing worse that a parent threatening some punishment but inconsistently delivering (the message to kids here is huge – if they don’t absolutely know that you’ll follow through, they will expect that you wont).
- All parents or partners must be united.
- Step 3 – Share feelings, talk with your child about how his/her behavior impacts others.
- Step 4 – Positive Reinforcement, Along the way it is very important to point out good behavior, especially when you see improvement over previous brat-like behaviors. If you don’t see good behavior, start by praising an effort that might be close to what you’re looking for. This will reinforce your child and lead to better behavior.
December 22nd, 2008
