Many fights started in our backyard. In my excitement to win the fights, my yelling grew so loud that the whole neighborhood knew we were slugging it out again. My, mother, a rather shy person, would throw up a back room window and yell, "For God's sake Jeanie, shut up!" The whole neighborhood heard her too. Her shouts embarrassed me and hurt my feelings but they didn't stop me. My brother and I fought like that almost every day. And almost everyday mom would shout the same command.

Looking back, I can't remember what Art and I fought about. I can remember my mother's words. How about you?

When your kids fight, and you step in the middle,
what will your kids remember?

Knowing what to do in the heat of the moment isn't easy. What is easy, is letting your own anger explode. If you do, what are you really teaching your kids?

Parenting Tips and Advice:

Talk the situation over with your partner or someone you trust.
Come up with a logical plan for handling future fights.
Tell your kids (when they're not fighting) what will happen the next time they fight.
Determine to respond with your reason and not your emotion.
Follow through with the plan.

If you react to your kid's fighting the way my mother did, you can change.

Ask yourself these three questions:

What will my kids remember about my reactions?
What am I really teaching them?
What do I want to teach them?

Here's to your parenting success!
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