If your child's behavior sometimes drives you crazy and you start to feel overwhelmed and frustrated, stop for a minute and try to think about what your child might be trying to say. Behavior is a child's way of communicating when they don't have words or don't know how to use them. Their behavior let's us know something is going on and it's our job to figure out what that is and help the child deal with those feelings. Addressing the feelings helps with the behavior. Maybe the child is going through a challenging developmental stage, needs some extra attention, has experienced a significant change recently, doesn't feel well, is struggling with a school or peer issue, is feeling insecure, etc.
When we take a minute to look through the eyes of our child and try to understand what they are experiencing, we realize there is meaning behind their behavior. This knowledge makes it much easier to handle our own feelings and help our child work through theirs. Knowledge is power and can be very relieving.
