As a parent, there must have been times when you felt as if your kids were out of control, but have you ever felt as if they’re out of control, all the time? For some parents whose children refuse to listen, continually break rules and show no concern whatsoever for the consequences of their actions, being out of control has simply become the norm.

While there is absolutely no shame in admitting that your kids are out of control, thankfully, there are things you can do about it, and ways that you can regain some semblance of control. Maintaining your authority is important not only for the wellbeing of your children, but for your own emotional health, and below are a few simple ways to help achieve this without resorting to screaming matches, slamming doors, and tantrums!

Set up some basic rules and structure:

You may not enjoy setting rules for your children, but when you do, they respond better and get an understanding of what they need to do to stay within your limits, and this helps to build harmony in the home. Here are some ways to help you do this:

Have a clear set of house rules

Write down a series of basic rules for everyone to stick to, adults included, and make sure you discuss them with the entire family.

Create structure

Create a simple schedule for your children and introduce a little more structure into their day with time allocated for homework, household chores, dinner, family and play time etc. While this schedule may be harder – and a lot less fun – to implement on a weekend, wherever possible, you should try to stick to it during the week.

Allocate simple chores

No matter what age your children are, they can each do something to help around the house, and the quicker you can get them helping out with basic chores, the sooner they’ll learn to become responsible and be a helpful member of the household. Children love to contribute and have their contributions valued.

Use positive language

Instead of generating negativity and focusing on what your kids can’t do, try to get them involved in ways that they can manage. One example of this would be to say, “when you’ve finished putting your toys away, you can watch TV”, instead of saying: “no TV for you until your toys are all put away”. Positive choices give children an incentive and help them to feel as if their actions will result in something good that is measurable; beginning with a negative encourages them to focus on that, and to not be able to see what good will come from carrying out a task or chore.

Make your instructions effective

If you’re giving a direction to your children, use a firm tone and make sure the instruction is clear and unambiguous. Stay calm, and ask your child to look at you and pay attention as you speak. A child who doesn’t trust their parent to maintain some sense of order in the home, will expect the same outside of the home, and it can be incredibly stressful for a child over time.

It’s important to remember that all children are different, and methods that work with someone else’s child, for example, might not have the same effect with yours. Be kind to yourself and see parenthood as a learning curve; sometimes a very steep one! Professional help is also available should you need it, and never forget that achieving harmony at home and control over your kid’s behaviour, is entirely within your grasp.

At Full Circle Hypnotherapy, we help mums who are at their wits end because their children refuse to listen to them and are constantly having melt downs. Often mums are also filled with feelings of failure, guilt and shame. Our Full Circle hypnotherapist in Manchester have two decades worth of experience in working with parents and guiding with parenting responsibilities.

If you are looking for Hypnotherapy in Manchester, then you may need to check this Hypnotherapist in Manchester to Guide on Parenting Responsibilities...