There is nothing worse than a seven-year-old with an attitude problem; back chat, door slamming and lots of yelling makes for a very unhappy household. Thankfully, there are a few things you can do to encourage your child to have a better attitude.
Discipline
When your child slams doors, talks back or is rude to you because they are angry, they need to understand that that kind of behaviour is not acceptable. Calmly tell them that because of their behaviour you are talking away a privilege or putting them on the naughty step.
Back chat
Back chat can be annoying but it can be easily sorted by rephrasing your sentence. Instead of asking your little one “can you pick up your schoolbag?”which no doubt will receive an “eh, no” response, you need to tell them to do it. Don’t give them the opportunity to answer you back.
Talk about appropriate ways of answering
Make sure your youngster is aware of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in terms of how they answer you or others back. While a lot of what they say is picked up in the school playground, your son or daughter should be aware of certain rules when it comes to talking to others. Remember to praise them when they are right.
Consider how you handle your anger
When it comes to talking to your child about dealing with their anger, you need to watch how you act and talk to others. Remember, your child is looking up at you to see how to behave so make sure you always practice what you preach.
Consider which programmes they watch on TV
TV is full of kids with bad attitude which unfortunately is made to seem amusing. Be careful what your little one watches on telly and if you notice their behaviour starting to mimic their favourite TV character, talk to them about the difference between the TV and reality. If necessary, don’t allow them to watch it again.
Your child’s attitude is usually down to the fact that they are feeling angry about a particular thing, maybe you said it was bed time or that they had to turn off the TV to do clean their room. However, no matter what they are annoyed over they still need to keep their attitude in check.
