What a better place to catch kids misbehaving than on an airplane that is waiting to take off. Here you’ll see a variety of kids showing different kinds of behaviors as a reaction to the small and tight space, fear of flying, strangers around them, and the unfamiliarity of the environment.
You’ll also see different parents doing their best to handle these situations. Sometimes appropriately, but sometimes just enabling the child to misbehave, which makes the viewers cringe. Many of us are guilty of contributing to these kinds of child misbehavior. Here are some acts that we as adults tend to do, that make kids behave like brats:
1. Trying To Make Them Happy All The Time
Life is not a fairy tale. In reality, it is tough. What a better way to prepare kids for it than by letting them experience life as it is. Sure, we want them to have a fairy tale birthday, or give them candies every time they lose a game with their playmate, but this will make them feel that that there is no room for anything, but the good ones. And then, when they experience anything but happiness, they will act out.
So just let them experience the ups and downs of their daily activities and interactions with others. From this, they will learn that feelings can get hurt, or that healing comes after getting their knee wounded from running and falling. These things will strengthen their character, which will definitely be of good use when they become adults.
2. Tolerating When Complaining About Authority
It’s understandable. You are a parent, an aunt, a grandma, or someone that has authority over a child. But when the child comes to you complaining about their teacher or another authority, if you immediately assume the role of a protector in shining armor before taking a few minutes to be objective and hear the whole story, then the kid will think that it is ok to question another authority.
Before talking to the teacher or the individual involved, have your kid explain first how he or she feels and what had happened. And then based on it, be objective and do your guardian responsibilities. This lets the child see that authorities are to be taken seriously and are to be respected.
3. Showing Bad Temper When Dealing With Tantrums
A kid’s bad temper while getting reprimanded is bad enough, and if you double it with your bad temper, then that’s asking for mayhem. Also, you are just reinforcing bad behavior. Remember to be calm when reprimanding kids, and explain why they are getting reprimanded and what your expectations are.
If you don’t, they will keep acting out for the pleasure of watching you scramble and get upset. And they would love to see you in that same situation over and over again, as if it was an accomplishment.
4. Rewarding Everything
Kids can get used to routines. They may get up in the morning, eat breakfast, play with their lego and watch TV. If they refuse to eat breakfast and you give them a reward before or after they eat, they might not eat another meal again without that reward. If they don’t get that reward, they will act out.
So make sure that when you give a reward, you explain that you are only doing it this time, and that you expect them to do the same task again the next time without the reward.
5. Offering Too Much Help
Offering too much help may breed lazy kids that might turn them into adults that lack motivation for success. We can’t always turn the TV on for them, or put toothpaste on their toothbrush, because if you are not around to do that anymore, then they will act out.
In real life, there will be situations where there can be no one else to depend on, but themselves. The earlier that we teach our kids that they are able to get up and fill that glass with water to quench their own thirst, the better because this translates into the real world they will face in their future.
6. Letting Them Win All The Time
We can’t be around our kids all the time. If we always make it a point that they take the winning spot every time they are around us, they would think that the world is built like this. But it is not. When they get to the outside world and be with their playmates and experience losing, they will act out because they are not used to it.
In real life, there will be best and second best, and being second best is not necessarily a bad thing. We should teach our kids that defeat breeds resilience and hard work.
7. Having Them Avoiding Conflicts and Confrontations
Shielding kids from conflicts and confrontations can turn into a bad thing, if done too much. If we provide guidance, but ultimately let them deal with their own small conflicts and confrontations, then they become more self-aware and aware of other’s feelings. They will learn to share, play fairly and treat another human that is their equal with care and compassion. This helps them have a smoother relationship with their playmates, and ultimately with their peers as adults.
Kids can be tough and a lot of work to deal with, but we can make it easier. By being mindful of the simple acts that we show them, we can prevent future misbehavior so they turn out to be good kids, and hopefully become adults that are ready for the real world.