When Pride Strays into Arrogance with Adrianna K.

Adrianna's 6-year-old girl has always been incredibly cooperative, but recently she's become very defiant. Whether it's refusing to do what she's asked to do or arguing with the answer to her own question, she feels that she's smarter than her parents and questions everything. Today, Adrianna and I talk about what may be behind this sudden change. We talk about every kid's eventual realization that they can have control in a given situation, and we note that she's frustrated with how little control she has. We talk about encouraging pride without encouraging arrogance, as well as how to get the point across that questioning is good but needs to be done politely. We talk about ways to give her more control and empower her without sacrificing boundaries. Finally, we note the importance of validating her feelings.   "One way you could handle it is to get angry at her for saying those things, but my philosophy is that anger never really works well." - Sue Groner   This week on The Parenting Mentor: How to handle a child who is realizing that she has control Encouraging pride without arrogance Explaining that questioning is good but has to be done politely and respectfully Ways to make a child feel empowered without sacrificing boundaries The importance of following validation with "and" instead of "but"   Meet the Parenting Mentor If you want to reduce the everyday stress and anxiety that inevitably come with parenting and learn to be a happier and more relaxed parent, then this is the place for you. Here, you can listen in on real sessions with parents who open up about the specific challenges they face with children from 2 to 22. Listen along and gain perspectives and strategies to help you parent with sanity and joy. Visit theparentingmentor.com for notes on this show, more episodes, and all the ways to subscribe, and don't forget to pick up my book, Parenting with Sanity and Joy: 101 Simple Strategies, which includes my Nine Golden Rules of Parenting. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts! Spotify I Stitcher I Apple Podcasts I iHeart Radio I TuneIn I Google Podcasts