Of the many things that make parenting a tough job is having kids complaining and whining. After all, who likes to listen to “These potato chips are too salty” or “This bug bite itches a lot” when you’re in the middle of washing dishes, responding to an important phone call, and thinking about what to prepare for dinner all at the same time? Keep reading to discover 7 ways to respond when your child complains.
7 Ways To Respond When Your Child Complains
1. Acknowledge
Minimizing your child’s feelings or ignoring his complaints is literally the worst thing you could do. Instead, acknowledge your child’s complaints, and then move on. Once you start to take things lightly (after acknowledging it), eventually, your child will learn to do the same as well.
2. Highlight the Positive
If your child keeps complaining about literally everything, encourage him to find the silver lining and be more positive. Remind him that there’s a brighter side to everything in life and teach him to be more balanced in general, and focus on the good parts in life as well.
3. Encourage Problem Solving
The next time your child complains about something, instead of having him brood over it too much, get him to whip up ideas about how he can solve the problem. Remind him that he does have power over certain aspects of his life, and that power can help him fix the situations he is complaining about.
4. Listen and Validate
As tough as it may sound, it is super important to listen completely to your child’s complains, and then validate them. Avoid interrupting him and accept his complains without judging him. Be open to what he has to say, but in a way that doesn’t make him give too much importance to his complains.
5. Rephrase
Another cool trick to implement is to rephrase your child’s words when he complains. For instance, if your child complains that he hates his new toy, rephrase it to “you want a different toy.” Get him to remove negativity out of the equation completely.
6. Offer a Choice
Whenever your children complain, offer them a choice. Let them know that there is a lot they can actually do about the problem other than complaining, and remind them that complaining is actually nothing but a waste of energy. It doesn’t make them accomplish anything at all.
7. Encourage Gratefulness
One of the best ways to discourage complaining in your children is to have them practice gratefulness regularly. Not only does it teach them the value of little things in life, but also gets them to see the good things that they experience on a daily basis, which will make them less likely to crib and complain, especially over trivial matters.
These above 7 super powerful ways to respond when your child complains or whines will certainly be helpful!
these are all great positive tips! Thank you for sharing!
I agree as well, great suggestions.