Complaint Time
Today I want to talk to you about a child who complains a lot. How do you handle a child who is constantly complaining that everything is bad, everything is wrong, and is constantly telling you day and night? Doesn’t it really just kind of drive you crazy after awhile?
I’m going to give you some very quick and easy parenting advice for a child who always complains. What you should do with a child who complains is set aside a time everyday in which you field these complaints.
For example, you would say to your child, “From 7:00 – 7:30 tonight I am hearing complaints.” Have your child come to you then at 7pm. Then have him write out everything that is bothering him.
Make it clear in his mind if he’s old enough to write, or have him have it clear in his mind what he wants to talk about. Then from 7:00 – 7:30 every evening, you hear and address your child’s complaints. You, as the parent, legitimately take care of the problems.
When your child comes at another time of the day, say lunchtime or 4:00 in the evening, you tell him the following, “We have a complaint time and it is from 7:00 to 7:30 every evening. This is when you bring your complaints to me. Bring them tonight and I will discuss them with you.”
Do not hear complaints outside of the allotted time.
Having a specific timeframe will help your child focus. What will happen is that your child will begin to get his complaints clear because he will have to write them down to present them to you. This will help your child be able to focus on other things instead of complaining because he will not have anyone to hear the complaints. It also allows your child to be heard.
Also, it will give you a lot more peace.
There are a lot of advantages with this technique. It will allow your child to be heard. This technique will also let you legitimately address the complaints. Finally, you will have a lot more sanity.
So, if you have a child that complains a lot, try out this technique. It is good for children, good for teenagers and good really for anybody. It is even good in business, if you have a business time for complaining. It is good all around advice to accept complaints. That way, the rest of the day goes a lot smoother.
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Dr. Anthony Kane has been helping parents around the world with difficult children and teenagers for over a decade. He has published over one hundred parenting videos and several hundred articles that are free for you.
Currently, 18,962 parents world wide receive his parenting information and 4797 parents have benefited from his programs on parenting ADHD, ODD, and difficult children and teenagers.
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