Positive Ways to Deal with Tough Parenting Challenges

As a parent, there are many challenges that you must face and some of them may be particularly tough because you just aren’t sure how to deal with them. No parent knows how to deal with every situation because every situation is unique to a particular family.
Here are five examples of tough parenting challenges that you may face and positive solutions on how to deal with these challenges.

Staying Calm when one or all of your children are having a meltdow

This is hard for any parent to do, but not letting their meltdown create your meltdown will help get your child calmed down quicker and diffuse the tantrum. Try taking a couple of deep breaths or counting to five. Sometimes walking into a different room for 30 seconds helps you regroup and stay calm.

Bedtime

Bedtime can be an absolute nightmare in some families. Your children may find hundreds of ways to stall the going to bed process. Others may not stay in their beds once hugs and kisses have been given and you may have kids that kick, scream and throw fits about going to bed. This is a hard challenge to deal with because there has to be consistency and you as the parent cannot back down and give in to your child’s demands at bedtime. Have a set bedtime for your kids and stick to it. Explain to them what bedtime means (You stay in your bed and go to sleep. No coming out of your room, no needing 10 drinks or going to the bathroom 15 times.) You as the parent need to stay calm, speak in an authorative but not combative voice and tell your children what is expected of them at bedtime and what is unacceptable behavior at bedtime.

Getting your kids to help with chores around the house

Do you feel like you are constantly fighting with your kids to get them to pick up their toys, clean their rooms and just help you out around the house? Making a game out of it can help you get the help that you need to get things done. Get a timer and tell your children that you are going to have a race to see who can get the “living room” picked up in fifteen minutes or see how fast it will take everybody to pick up their stuff and put it away. By doing this, the “work” stuff feels like “fun” stuff and there won’t be such a struggle to get it done.

Dealing with a stubborn child

Dealing with a stubborn child is just plain exhausting some days. No matter what you may be trying to accomplish, it turns into a battle with a stubborn child. Try changing the dynamics about the way you approach situations. Take a different approach or ask dad to step in and take the lead. Sometimes having a different parent in charge of a particular thing changes the dynamics and changes the end result on your child’s behavior. Your child’s stubborn streak can be a positive thing as they get older. A stubborn child can turn into a very successful adult because they know what they want and they know how to go about getting it done.

Trying to get your kids out the door on time

Getting everybody out the door on time can be a very difficult thing to do when you have small children and sometimes even when you have older children. It never fails someone forgot a book, or their lunch, or their activity bag or the never ending, I have to go to the bathroom after you already have everybody buckled in the car. One thing that you can do is the day/night before, make piles for each child and yourself of the things you will need for the next day’s outings. Put your daughter’s lunch box, school bag and her dance class bag by the door. Put your son’s school bag, and guitar by the back door. Put your purse and whatever else you may need during those kid’s outings by the back door. This way when you leave in the morning, the kid’s grab all their stuff, throw it in the car and they have everything they need for school and after school activities so there is less of a chance something will be forgotten. Also write appointments on your calendar for 15 minutes before they actually are. This gives you a 15-minute reprieve if you are running late.

Parents have many difficult challenges in raising a family. When things get too difficult, step back and think of positive ways that you may be able to change a struggle with your child or a difficult challenge you are facing with your family.