Episode 60: When Your Child Hits, Kicks and Slaps Others with Sara H
EPISODE 60: THE PARENTING MENTOR: When Your Child Hits, Kicks and Slaps Others with Sara H
Sara H is a mother to a 4 year old girl who struggles with emotional regulation. When her daughter is angry or frustrated she goes straight to hitting, kicking and slapping others. With a new baby on the way, Sara is worried that her child doesn’t have coping mechanisms to turn to, in order to regulate her emotions. On today’s podcast we discuss specific strategies that will help your child manage difficult feelings in a more positive way. We talk about how to create an emotional connection with your child by reflecting their experience back to them. We talk about how using a general global statement such as “people don’t hit people” is a non-judgemental rule to offer them. We talk about the power of showing up with love and trying not to “fix” things. We talk about the importance of showing your kid how YOU handle difficult emotions so they can learn by example.
“I’m not going to fix what you’re doing. I’m not going to fix why you’re angry or why you’re frustrated. But I’m going to allow you to feel that way and I’m going to give you love for it. If we fix it, then, we’re not really helping them to develop that emotional intelligence. We’re not helping them to develop their coping mechanisms and problem solving skills.” - Sue Groner
This week on The Parenting Mentor:
- Tips for validating and non-judgemental communication that reflect back your child’s experience and why this creates empathy and connection.
- Specific tools for allowing your child to feel and express their emotions in a healthy and non-destructive way.
- Normalizing the experience of difficult emotions and showing your child how you cope with it in your own life.
- Specific tools to encourage love and empathy while allowing your child to develop their own problem solving tools.
Meet the Parenting Mentor
If you want to reduce the everyday stress and anxiety that inevitably come with parenting and learn to be a happier and more relaxed parent, then this is the place for you.
Here, you can listen in on real sessions with parents who open up about the specific challenges they face with children from 2 to 22. Listen along and gain perspectives and strategies to help you parent with sanity and joy.
Don’t forget to pick up my book, Parenting with Sanity and Joy: 101 Simple Strategies, which includes my Nine Golden Rules of Parenting.
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