I work with hundreds of committed, energetic, and amazing parents and educators who all find working with a strong willed child a struggle, and for good reason. The purpose behind what I do is to spread the word that you are not alone in your struggles and that things can get easier. As I reflect on my 22-year-old strong-willed child, I have the benefit of hindsight. I want to emphasize how CRITICAL it is to understand what is going on within these strong willed, passionate children. When I discussed challenging behavior in my three-part blog series (which you can access here if you missed it), I addressed how our expectations, as well as their inherent inflexibility, are the primary causes of us becoming triggered. As a result, young children are constantly bombarded with negative energy throughout their childhood, which can have a negative impact on their self-esteem.
Because of this, it is extremely important to refrain from becoming caught in their anger and responding with a stream of; "Stop it! You're too intense! That's not OK. I can't handle your angry outbursts anymore!"
Take heart in the idea that you can reverse the unintentional barrage of misunderstandings, shame, and blame. You don't have to suffer in silence; you aren't the only one; and it doesn't have to be so painful.
But it's difficult when we are feeling overwhelmed with hundreds of tasks to complete plus when we ask them for some help, we frequently receive attitude, inflexibility or anger instead! Isn't it reasonable