How to Handle Argumentative Children - Check Your Foundation

At some point, nearly all parents ask how to handle argumentative children. That's just life as a parent.

But for some families this question becomes a way of life. Their kids are arguing, yelling, resisting them on a continual - often daily - basis.

When behavior starts going south in our family, I always check our family's foundations. What is that? Our foundations are what we, as a family, are built on. A family almost always moves in the direction of its foundations, so this is important!

Here is one of our foundations well-spoken by Dr. Christine Carter, a sociologist at The Greater Good Science Center and the author of the book Raising Happiness: 10 Simple Steps For More Joyful Kids and Happier Parents.

"Those of us who’ve peered closely into the research know beyond a shadow of a doubt, for example, that the children of “authoritative” parents—parents who are warm and loving, but also good at setting and enforcing limits—are better adjusted and more academically successful than those of overly permissive or superstrict parents."

 This is the truth that has been born out in our family over and over, even with four very different children and us at very different ages of parenting. Argumentative children NEED this style of parenting all the more. They are reaching out to find where the parent's limits are and when they don't find any, hey, it's scary!

Are you dealing with argumentative children? Stop and check your parenting foundations. That is much easier than dealing with the threat of continuous arguing.