What to do when Your Child Leaves you Speechless...

If you're like me, every once in a while your child does something so shocking it leaves you without words and on the verge of completely losing your mind.

Every parent experiences this with their kids. And we all have actually lost our minds at times too! Check out the quick tips below to learn how to approach these situations with confidence and grace.

Step 1: Say nothing and let the shock sink in. Resist the urge to yell, lecture, or make demands. There is power in your child seeing your body language alone.

Step 2: Use a calm but firm phrase or sound.. something like "awwwww man.......", "whoaaaa...". The more drawn out and monotone, the better.

Step 3: Delay the consequence. Yes! It's okay to say "I'm going to have to do something about this. I'll let you know what I decide later."

Step 4: Follow through! Remember to keep your word. The consequence can be anything relatable to the offense. It could be repaying your energy for having to help clean up their mess, having to use their own money to pay for a repair, or having to write a note to reconcile with the person they hurt or lied to (always age appropriate, of course).

There you have it! Remember to give yourself grace when you try new strategies.

And if you do end up losing your cool, try thinking of it as an opportunity to model conflict resolution with your child. Repairing after an explosive moment in parenting goes a lot further than we sometimes give ourselves credit for.

You can find EVEN MORE strategies when you get my free Love & Logic "Cheat Sheet" PDF pack here!