How You Unintentionally Encourage Misbehavior

Do you ever find yourself feeling exasperated with your children’s continual misbehavior? If so, you’re like many other parents! You may even feel like shouting at your kids “Why can’t you just behave!”

So why do your children behave the way they do? According to the late psychologist Alfred Adler, all behavior serves a purpose. The most basic purposes are for two things:

• Belonging – feeling a sense of connection
• Meaning – feeling a sense of significance

When your kids are misbehaving, they often feel a greater sense of connection to you because you pay a lot of attention to them. They may also feel a sense of significance because they know how to push your buttons and make you react. Now there’s some power!

Let’s look at how this works in a couple situations.

My Children Don’t Listen

Do you ever find yourself having to repeat the same thing multiple times before your children actually listen? Children who don’t listen often have been unintentionally taught not to listen.

(read the rest of the article at Priceless Parenting)