Avoiding The Melt Downs
How to Avoid Melt Downs
by Amy Egan
So often I hear complaints from parents about their children’s reactions to limits and consequences. Parents are hurt, surprised, outraged, incensed, annoyed, insulted and/or angered that their child throws a fit when given a perfectly appropriate limit. Because the child’s or teen’s reaction causes discomfort to the parent, the parent, often unconsciously, avoids any situation in which they may have to experience a kid’s wrath. What ends up happening is the parent tries to present a limit to their child with kid gloves on – hoping to make the limit palatable to the child/teen. The mother knows she needs to hold the kid accountable but wants to avoid the charged emotions that usually follow. The father does not want to be walked on by his kids but hates drama.
