It’s Common and Manageable

Every parent experiences moments of anger when dealing with their children. This is common but can lead to relationship struggles between parent and child as well as trigger mental health problems such as low self-esteem, depression and anxiety. Not to mention that anger can be learned quite easily by children, a sort of inheritance that none of us want to pass along.

It is not a sign of weakness to look for help when it comes to addressing our feelings and learning to deal with them appropriately. Here are 5 simple things to do when you feel those emotions bubbling up:

5 Tips

  1. Walk away and take 5 minutes to cool down
  2. Remember that you can correct or discipline while maintaining a peaceful composure
  3. Lean on your partner, sometimes one partner’s tank is more full of positivity and peace at the moment, so tag them in to help
  4. Don’t discipline in the moment, wait for cooler heads to prevail
  5. Remember that correction and discipline are moments where we get to educate our children

The best thing you can do is work on your anger before finding yourself in an emotional moment. Reflect on past times when you have reached a regrettable level of anger and try to identify what might have triggered the episode. Perhaps it is a specific child in your family or maybe it has to do more with key words or phrases. For example, when your child tells you “No!” or they say something unkind to a sibling. Watch for these specifically and prepare yourself for how you want to react.

Resources for Deeper Issues

If you feel that your anger is just too much or has the potential to reach a level where it could cause harm to your child, there are lots of great resources to turn to:

  • You can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline for immediate help at 1-800-799-7233
  • You can seek out counseling for you and/or your family
  • You can spend time researching Positive Parenting Tips on the CDC website

In the end, we are all human and we experience lots of emotion, including anger. However, what makes us super-parents is recognizing this and doing something about it. Our children deserve nothing less than that.

Schedule an appointment today!