How to manage frustration when your children start behaving badly

This morning...

What an absolute circus.

First, an epic battle with my kids to tear them away from their toys and get them ready for school.

Then, getting them dressed...like trying to lasso two little tornadoes.

And don't even get me started on the sunscreen saga...

Finally, I reached my breaking point. "IF YOU DON'T COME NOW, I'M LEAVING WITHOUT YOU!" My voice thundered through the house. A desperate cry in the face of pandemonium.

The thing is, dealing with kids is frustrating. They live in a different universe, with priorities and goals completely alien to us grown-ups.

Whenever I feel frustrated with my kids, I think back to the interview I did with Julie King, the co-author of How To Talk So LITTLE Kids Will Listen and How To Talk When Kids Won’t Listen.

In the interview, Julie shared her personal experience with getting frustrated with her kids:

When my kids were younger, I would notice I was going to that place where I felt like I wanted to yell…let’s just say…very unhelpful things.

I wanted to say some loud, hurtful things to my kids when I was really frustrated. One of the things that helped me was to say, “I am so frustrated! I need a break,” and I would go into the bathroom, or sometimes I would go into my closet, which I share with my husband. I would step into the closet and close the door so the kids couldn’t get in, and then I could say some of the nasty things that I wanted to say to them so they wouldn’t actually hear it.

Julie King

It was so good to hear Julie, a seasoned parent and parenting expert, share how she would also get angry with her kids and want to yell at them. Just knowing that everyone struggles with getting frustrated and angry at their kids makes me feel better about myself.

But in the interview, Julie also explains how you can turn these frustrating moments into teaching opportunities for your kids.

She shares how you can let out your frustrations in a positive way, while at the same time showing them how to deal with their own negative emotions.

And the more you can do this, the better you and your kids will get at dealing with frustrations and negative emotions.