If you have more than one child, I don’t have to tell you how often kids get into arguments at home.
You already know.
My brother and I argued growing up and there were ten years between us, so when I tell you that our four children are all between the ages of 7 and 15, you can imagine what a typical weeknight is like.
We’ve been at this parenting thing for nearly 16 years and we’ve finally found a few easy ways to stop kids from arguing that I thought might be helpful for others.
After all, when the kids are very small, they only argue about toys or elbow room. It’s when they get older that the real conflicts begin.
Read on to see these tips for yourself! And, for more help with parenting in the early years, take a look at five ways to help preschoolers manage their emotions!
3 Easy Ways to Stop Kids from Arguing
Image c/o: monkeybusiness & lufimorgan / depositphotos
Empathize with your kids.
When there’s more than one child in a family, it’s easy for each one to feel that they need to fight for your attention as a parent. It may not be true, but depending on the situation, that’s how the kids may feel.
We can put a damper on many arguments between the kids when we try to see things from their point of view. Then make sure the kids know that we care about their feelings and want to include them as we got forward.
Hold a family forum each week.
Choose one weeknight to hold a regular family forum. This is a time when each child gets to talk about the things that are bothering him or her.
During the forum, each person can speak freely and openly about frustrations, problems, fears, or anything else that has been weighing on their mind. If the kids are getting into arguments about the same issue, the family forum is a good time to address it.
It’s important to keep the environment during the family meeting positive. Focus on hearing everyone’s viewpoint and then compromising to solve the problem. Then agree on a strategy to follow moving forward.
It may even be helpful to post the strategy in writing as a reminder for how to defuse the argument next time.
Be sure to check on how everyone is doing with the plan at the next meeting!
Be consistent.
We have to parent each child differently, considering their age, disposition, and level of responsibility. Which means that nothing will ever be “fair” between them.
However, we can insist that each child follow the house rules. When a rule is broken, each child has to be held accountable, according to their level of maturity.
Consistently enforcing rules is one of the best ways to stop kids from arguing before they even get started.
How do you stop your kids from arguing at home? Share your tried and tested tips in the comments!
Don’t miss these other parenting tips!
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a few weeks back and it’s been a really great reminder of why it’s worth it to make your home into an actual place where humans can relax and live. (Mine had pretty much become a diner/storage unit.)
