Reply to Do you have a difficult child and how do you define one? Not special needs. Just difficult.

Forum Index » General Parenting Discussion

Reply to "Do you have a difficult child and how do you define one? Not special needs. Just difficult."

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]I don't know the answer to your question but as a parent, I find it enormously helpful to view the most challenging behaviors as a reflection of them struggling with a developmental stage instead of it being an inherent trait. Like I just choose to view it that way. I never, every say my child is stubborn or willful or defiant. I say "Yes, she's really going through a phase of asserting herself. It's hard." Or "It's true, being able to make her own choices about her life is really important to her right now."

I don't know if this is "right" or not, but it helps me always make room for the idea that my child can develop the skills to get better at whatever the challenging behavior is. So I would never say "I have a difficult child" or even label her as challenging. I just think the minute you do that, it boxes your kid into that label and then it's like she has to overcome the label in order to change the behavior, to prove that she's actually not difficult. That sucks. I hate when people make me prove I'm not something they've independently decided I am.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics