Dealing with Behaviors in Children

Your children are a reflection of you. And although I agree with the poet Kahlil Gibran when he spoke of children saying, “Your children come through you, but not from you,” we all know that children are molded and influenced by the adults who are most prominent in their lives.

Do you realize your children are absorbing your attitudes, beliefs and behavior, eventually modeling you in an attempt to express themselves? That can be a good thing provided their behavior is pleasant.

So what do you do when your child’s behavior is challenging and you’re hard pressed to understand it, let alone deal with it?

This is going to be hard for some of you to hear, but it is the truth. You’ll read it in all the parenting books and magazines. It’s old news really… Virtually every answer to your child’s conundrums begin with you. Yep, that’s right, you have to face the fact that whatever you’re doing is NOT working. Scolding, spanking, time outs, or any other types of punishment will only make matters worse and compound your problems. They are your problems. You are the parent and the educator, not a ruthless dictator presuming to know all the answers.

And if your child is acting out, you defintely don't know all the answers.

The good news? There’s hope, there’s a solution to every problem. And many resources for guidance and encouragement.

Read the article Mindful Parenting for resources and the rest of the story.