From Screamfree Parenting – Hal Runkel
We all want our children to respect us. The difficulty is this: you can’t MAKE someone feel respect towards you. In fact, the more you try to force that respect, the smaller you become in their eyes. And it’s awfully hard to look up to small people.
So, think of this. Who do you look up to and why? I’ll bet that they are people who treated you with respect and through their actions and their integrity earned yours in return. A quiet calm in all of your actions will draw your children towards you and will enable you to access the best parts of yourself. Who won’t respect that?
When you choose to remain calm in the demanding and crazy daily game of being a mom, you teach your children so much more about you! Instead of screaming or nagging – try another approach and see what happens. I have many parents say they are tired of nagging, repeating themselves, and “being the bad guy”. Well, I ask you to start treating your kids like adults – with respect and see what happens. It may just surprise you and yes, make you scream – but with screams of JOY!
