When our kids are angry, their brain's are out of control. They need us to be the calm and help them to find their calm.

The thing is, when they're upset, they're NOT IN A PLACE to learn new strategies to be calm. As odd as it may seem, these strategies need to be practised when your child is calm and in a good space. You could say "hey! I've learned about some new ways to calm my body down when I'm feeling angry - do you want to try some with me?". You could save this post and try a couple every week.

Remember - no one strategy will work every time - that's why it's important to have a toolbox of strategies to pull out when you're in need.

There's no such thing as naughty. Your child isn't angry or misbehaving out of spite, they're doing so because they have underdeveloped brains and no way to cope with the rush of emotions. When we as the adults teach them methods of regulating their big feelings and when we regulate alongside them, we teach them that it's ok to feel their feelings and that there are other ways of processing them.

Old-school parenting dictated that children should be shouted at and stopped from 'playing up' or being angry. Adults shouting basically just triggers their fight, flight or freeze response. That's our brain's built in alarm system designed to help us in times of I'm imminent danger. Yelling at your child makes them feel in danger so they shut down and potentially stop whatever behaviour they were doing but they certainly don't learn anything. The brain can't learn in that state.

Save this post and give some of these strategies a practice - start today!! Together with your child you'll have some activities that support them when they're angry in no time.

Share with a parent who's going through some tricky behaviours.