When tensions and anger rise in you or your child, take time out for you.

• Take five minutes to cool down and to ask yourself, "Why am I getting so angry?"
  
  
• Try to identify the real problem, then the solution will be easier to find.
  
  
• As we said before, find a quite room where your child can’t follow you, and stay there until you feel calm.
  
  
• If you can, leave your child in a room with the TV on so that they also are distracted from the argument.
  
  
• If your child is too young to be left on their own in a room, put them in a play pen or cot with some toys and ignore the shouting!
  

It is far better for your child in the long run if you can return calmly to the scene to sort things out, rather than reacting immediately and angrily with them.

In any job, people need time out. Parenting is no exception. Parents who never get a break are far more likely to make mistakes which they regret afterwards.

Back to 'Positive Parenting'.

Return to Homepage.