Living as a mom

Archive for December 30th, 2008

Are you having power struggles with your child all of the time? Do you feel like your child argues with you about everything? Your child could be strong-willed according to Dr. James Dobson. I know because both of mine are. Please read Dr. Dobson’s description of strong-willed children to see if your child fits the bill.

Raising a strong-willed child is very difficult. Days can seem to last an eternity as you go through your arsenal of discipline techniques and fail. If you don’t recognize that your child’s temperament is the culprit, you will certainly doubt your ability to parent and spend your days being exasperated. I have felt that way many times. I have lost my patience more than once and gotten wrapped up in the power struggle ultimately making things worse.

Remember that children are often like their parents, so if you are or your spouse is strong-willed, there is a good chance that your child will be, too. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!

Take heart that you can be the leader in your home with a strong-willed child! It is all about your approach. Here are a few tips that help me:

~I often have to explain “why” in order to get compliance whenever it is feasible.

~I also have to give choices and hand over control of the less important decisions.

~I have had to choose a few rules that I deem absolutely non-negotiable and be clear and consistent about enforcing those rules.

I recommend that you read everything you can about this personality type. I have read the following books and found that they were helpful:

~The Difficult Child by Stanley Turecki

~The New Strong Willed Child by Dr. James Dobson

~This article at Keep Kids Healthy.

~This article at Applied Learning Styles (AppLe St).

The personality traits that make your days difficult not can be positive character traits later in life.