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Dealing with a child who is having a tantrum is not easy, Mother. However, it turns out that your little one's 'tantrum' could be an opportunity for him to learn if his emotions are managed well.
Managing emotions is a skill that your little one needs to be happier as he grows. Psychologists also agree that the key to a child's success and well-being is how he manages his emotions.
For this reason, mothers can help children learn to manage emotions in several ways. For example, slowly teach your child to accept his feelings, whether happy, angry or sad.
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“However, occasional outbursts of anger cannot be avoided,” said Jazmine McCoy, a clinical psychologist based in suburban Atlanta, as quoted on the CNBC Make It page.
McCoy said the goal of being a parent is to raise a child who knows how to handle his anger in a healthy way. Teaching children to manage emotions healthily starts with how parents respond to their children's anger.
“It's okay (little one) to be angry, anger is an emotion which is a message to tell us something important. So let's pay attention,” said McCoy.
How to teach children to manage emotions well
The following is a summary of several ways to teach children to manage emotions as reported on the CNBC Make It page:
1. Make clear boundaries
Children should know that intense and negative emotions are normal. Parents are there to help and will still love them unconditionally even when their little one is acting up.
However, this does not mean that there are limits to accepting behavior that tends to lead to something dangerous, such as shouting or hitting someone.
“Children need to feel heard and understood, especially by their parents,” McCoy said.
Mother and Father can clearly state which boundaries should not be violated. For example, you shouldn't shout and you can say, “Mommy wants to hear what you have to say. But it will be difficult to understand if you shout, dear. Let's calm it down.”
2. Acknowledge the child's emotions
Acknowledging your child's anger can help them express the emotions they are feeling. This is an important step to help them manage these feelings without overreacting.
This can be done by asking the reason why your little one is so angry. Mother and father can discuss ways to solve the problems the child is facing.
“When we teach our children how to communicate with their words, then they don't have to feel like they have to scream and be aggressive,” McCoy said.
3. Calm the situation
Illustration/Photo: Getty Images/AzmanJaka
Teaching children to take deep breaths when they are upset is a popular way to calm angry outbursts. McCoy said the trick to using this strategy effectively is that parents must also model deep breathing before venting anger in front of him.
Tell your child to stop for a moment when they start to feel angry emotions to take a deep breath. “We don't necessarily force children to take deep breaths (when angry). Just (parents) model it,” said McCoy.
Don't respond to your child's explosive emotions with anger either. Yelling at your children will actually have a long-lasting negative impact on their self-esteem and emotional development.
“As frustrating as it may be to see your sweet toddler suddenly explode in anger, you have to remember that they are still too young to regulate their big feelings,” says McCoy.
Even though resentment is not expressed verbally, children can feel their parents' anger which can make the situation worse. So learning to manage children's emotions so that they are happy and successful depends on their parents.
“This depends on the messages we (parents) send and how we model our anger,” concluded McCoy.
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