Parents of problem children are often perceived as being the problem—or that they’ve created their “problem children”. This is not normally the case. These parents need training, not blame.
Are family members, maybe your kid’s teachers, and even counselors blaming you for your problem child’s acting out behavior? This leaves parents feeling trapped, isolated, and ashamed of their child’s defiant or out of control behavior. And with seemingly no place to turn, they become defensive and that keeps the ineffective cycle going.
However, I believe that most parents are doing a good enough job and just need training to become effective parents. This is evident especially if all the rest of your children are doing fine and you just have one defiant child. Blaming doesn’t solve the problem, it only adds to it as now the parents have to overcome their shame for not measuring up to the standards that are being placed on them by people on the outside looking in. I have tried hard in my years as a parent to not judge my insides by other peoples’ outsides. Every family is different.
The answer is to get training on how to handle your child. Get the skills you need. Keep asking, searching until you find a counselor, a program, a book, another parent who can give you the skills you need to be a better parent. Don’t get discouraged and steer clear of the blame/shame game. Find the one that works best for you and your family. Being proactive and persistent are great parenting skills. You are the solution. You love your children and you want a good relationship with them and a good future for them.
If we do these things now, maybe your child can avoid getting into further trouble. What choice do you have, really? As James Lehman says “If he continues the way he’s going, you’re going to be the ones visiting him in prison, lending him money because he won’t get a job, or raising his kids because he’s either too irresponsible or addicted to raise them himself.” It seems like a no brainer. Start today learning the skills you need to parent your problem children and reap the benefits tomorrow.
For many more tips and techniques to deal with problem children, check out The Total Transformation. It’s one of the best child behavior programs I’ve ever seen – it worked for our family, I’m sure it can work for yours!
Children with oppositional defiant disorder are not so good at handling the word no. They hear “If I’m not in control, bad things happen. When bad things are happening around me, the only way I can survive is by being in control.” For oppositional defiant disorder children being out of control is the worst thing that can happen to them because they don’t feel safe.
Most of us learn at an early age, around 3 or 4, that while “no” is disappointing because it means you don’t get want you want, that no is okay and they learn to adapt. For ODD kids, they react with kicking or hitting or property damage which ultimately makes them feel more out of control and the wheel starts turning.
However, every child needs to learn to handle the word no and the oppositional defiant disorder child is no different. So there is hope because there are things parents can do to avoid or to redirect their child’s behavior, or escape from explosive behavior.
Avoid the conflict – This is one strategy that is very successful. These kiddos need structure and a great way to give them that is to set up a daily schedule.
3 – 4 Snacks, relax
4 – 5 Homework and chores
5 – 6 Dinner
6 – 7 Play time
7 – 8 TV
9 Bedtime
So when Bobby asks to play during homework time. Instead of saying “no”, you can say something like “You know the schedule. This is homework time. Play time is at 6.” This not only avoids having to say no, but also teaches them how to follow a schedule, which ultimately gives them the structure they crave.
Redirect the behavior – If the situation starts to escalate, redirect his attention. “Remember, you can play at 6. Stay focused on your homework”. Then walk away. If you don’t think this is going to work, then redirect for a moment with something else like “Can you go get the frozen roast out of the freezer and put it in the microwave to defrost. That would be a great help.”
Escape from conflict – If the situation has escalated, simply state your position and turn and walk away! “It is not time for you to play, it is time for you to do your homework”. Do not turn back once you walk away. They will most definitely try to turn you around (and if you do the ODD kid wins and you lose the power), even if they are backtalking all the way to the chore.
The oppositional defiant disorder child can learn coping skills and as parents of these kids, that is very important to remember! As the poet Theodore Roethke said “a slow growth is a hard thing to endure.” Time and age helps with these guys. It just takes more patience on our part. Stick to a plan and I believe you will see real change.
For many more tips and techniques to deal with an oppositional defiant child, check out The Total Transformation. It’s one of the best child behavior programs I’ve ever seen – it worked for our family, I’m sure it can work for yours!
Parents need to set limits with their kids of all ages. When they’re young, that’s not so tough. It’s easy to keep a toddler from touching the stove, or running out in the street. As they get older, especially into their teen years, it becomes harder and harder. Not only do the limits need to adjust over time, but they are also harder to enforce. This causes some parents to stop setting limits, or at least have trouble deciding how to do this. This is not a good thing!
Teenagers need limits just as much if not more than little kids. At that time of their life, they’re very confused and insecure about themselves, and they need to feel loved. Firm limits and boundaries show a struggling teen love. In addition, the choices they make as teenagers can have much farther reaching effects on them, some that may stick with them for the rest of their life.
Here are 3 ideas for setting limits for older kids and teens.
- Plan ahead. Sometimes, when you run into child behavior problems with your teens, it’s hard to think on the fly. That’s why it’s good to have a predetermined framework of limits and consequences in place that you can fall back on in an emergency.
- Work on your demeanor. This may not sound important, but the way you look and come across to your teenager is especially important when you’re dishing out advice or consequences. You don’t want your face to look to scary or mean. Practice in the mirror, and make sure your face looks kind and calm. I’ve noticed that with my kids that if I have a calm and kind demeanor, it really helps them to listen to me. If my tone is demeaning or harsh, it shuts them right down! Remember, kids are people too, and their feelings get hurt just like anyone else.
- Talk with and listen to your teenager. Sometimes limits need to change, and it’s good to sit down with a difficult child if he looks like he’s going to test a limit – or if he already has. You might discuss his curfew with him, and make him a deal. If he thinks that it’s too early, you could say “OK, how about if you come home on time for a month, than we can look at changing it to a little later”. If he says “It’s no fair – my friends get to stay out until midnight, and I have to be home at 10″, you might say “I think 10 is safe. If you think you can stay safe until 10:30, let’s try that”. If they still want to stay out later, you could say “Let’s try 10:30 for a couple of weeks, and see how you do. Then we’ll talk about switching it to later”.
Limit setting is one of the most important things you can do for a child – don’t give up when you’re on the homestretch!
Do you have trouble setting limits for your teens?
For many more tips and techniques to deal with child behavior problem’s, check out The Total Transformation. It’s one of the best child behavior programs I’ve ever seen – it worked for our family, I’m sure it can work for yours!
Sometimes teenage girls are so out-of-control that parents feel there is no solution other than to send them to a military school for girls, boot camp, or wilderness program. Usually, this isn’t something they want to do – it’s because they’ve tried everything else and they don’t see any other alternative. Residential treatment programs like military schools for girls, reform schools, and boot/wilderness camps can provide short term help. They can teach your teenage girl how to behave in a restrictive, artificial environment, but they rarely bring about permanent behavior changes once she return’s home and is faced with the challenges of the real world.
The problem is that many teenage girls simply don’t know how to problem solve, and that’s why they act out and are disobedient and abusive. It’s how they control their life. They just use it to get what they want, instead of working through the problem.
If you’ve been considering a military school for your teenage girl, please do yourself (and your daughter) a favor and take a look at the Total Transformation Program by James Lehman. This program is designed to teach parents how to help their kids learn to problem solve, thereby eliminating the abusive behavior that comes from poor problem-solving skills. Mr. Lehman give you many tips and techniques to help your daughter to be successful in life.
One of our favorite techniques is to disconnect. What this means is stop communication with the child if they’re being abusive or disrespectful. Make it a power vacuum, and you’ll be amazed how fast things change. This is one that we’ve started using and I can’t believe how good it works. Communication should not resume until the child takes responsibility for their behavior.
This is just one of the tools we’ve learned that has worked for us. Mr. Lehman has hundreds more – and they all make sense and are easy to implement. Maybe a military school for girls is not the right answer. Take a look at The Total Transformation today. You’ve got nothing to lose, because now there is a limited time offer to get it for free! All you have to do is just order it and complete and return the enclosed Feedback Survey. Do it today before it’s too late!
What exactly do you learn from Total Transformation? In other words, how does the program work?
If you think that you’ll change your kid’s behaviors without changing your own behavior, then whatever you do, don’t buy Total Transformation. As we go through the DVD’s and CD’s, it becomes abundantly clear that James Lehman is out to teach us as parents to change how we deal with our children, which in turn will make the child change.
Mr. Lehman states over and over that the main reason that kids are disobedient, out-of-control, and abusive is they don’t have problem solving skills, and acting out is the way they get through life, instead of learning to problem solve. Mr. Lehman shows us many different skills we can start using as parents in order to help our kids learn, but you’ve got to want to work at it! Nothing happens overnight!
There are many different permissive styles that parents have in raising their children, and most of them are ineffective. Some of these include the martyr, the screamer, bottomless pockets, over-negotiator, and the perfectionist. These are the roles that we as parents need to change if we’re going to help our kid to problem solve, and get our house back to normal. Mr. Lehman goes over each of these roles and cures for them in the Total Transformation, and I’m going to touch on most if not all of them in my reviews of the program.
Here’s the truth – you probably need to change your behavior. You can’t expect to fix your child if you’re not willing to learn and grow yourself. If that sounds like something you won’t mind doing, then Total Transformation might be for you.
Next up – The Total Transformation Workbook.
Recent Comments