Transcript
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Hey moms and dads, don't you just.
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Do you have a child who struggles with anxiety, who resists going to new places or trying new activities? And it's frustrating because you know once you get he's going to enjoy it, but it almost always results in yelling, defiance, hurt feelings and a big power struggle in which everybody loses. Well, good. I'm glad you do because we have a lot of experience with this, especially after inviting 1,500 of these kids into our home. So I think I can help you. I know I can help you with this. I know I can help you as well because our son Casey struggle with anxiety. I struggle with anxiety. So that's what we're going to discuss on this episode of the Calm Parenting Podcast as we continue Defiance and Big Emotions month at Celebrate Calm. And it also includes a big sale. So you get everything we've ever created, every Strategy right@celebratecalm.com you get everything delivered to an easy to listen to app so both you and your spouse, your partner, your parents, your kids, your teachers can listen. If you need help, email Casey C A s e y celebratecalm.com because he was a big emotions kid so he gets this. For those of you who are new to us, this is Kirk Martin, founder of Celebrate Calm and I talk really fast. So here's the situation. You rush into the living room and call upstairs expectantly. Joseph, your first taekwondo Class this night. Get downstairs. Crickets. You hear nothing. Honey, we're going to be late if you don't come now. Well, he doesn't care because he doesn't want to go. Joseph, I'm not going to ask you again, which guarantees you are. We don't have time for this tonight. You need to get downstairs and eat before we go. And again you hear nothing. And inside you're like, here comes yet another power struggle. It's been this way since this child was in your womb. You try to sleep, he kicks, always wanting to the opposite of what you have plant. And you're frustrated because you're trying to do this for him. You don't need to spend the extra money and extra time driving across town to do this dumb class. But you thought it would be a good outlet for him and a way for him to make some friends. And you're anxious because you've paid $135 for this class and you hate wasting money. And now you're going to be late again, and you hate being late. It's a trigger for you. And now he's doing his little delaying tactic, right? You can feel your own anxiety and all these different things hitting you. All these things like, well, what are my parents going to think? They let me or my husband? He lets. He just thinks I'm letting our son get away with all these things. And am I just coddling him by not making him go, what am I doing wrong? All these things start to bombard you. And so here's the moment of decision. You know how your child is going to react. You've seen this before. He's going to resist. He's going to yell and call you names. His face is going to turn purple as he screams. I'm not going. Taekwondo is stupid. You're stupid. He's going to sob crocodile tears. He's going to talk his way out of it, complain that his stomach is upset, right? That he doesn't feel well. He's going to plead with you to just let him stay home this week, because I promise next week I'll go. Please, Mom. You know that's about to happen because you've heard it. You've seen this a hundred times. So you know what's about to happen. And the real question now in this big emotion moment is what are you going to do differently this time? Because that's the only real variable here. You are not going to get him this to change his behavior. You're not going to convince him. You're not going to threaten him and get him to give in. The only thing you have control over at this critical moment is your own behavior. Are you going to react to it or are you going to respond? Are you going to escalate this situation or defuse it? See, because we're so anxious and rust and rushed and we take these challenges to, to our authority because that's what we hear. He's challenging my authority. That's another trigger that gets you because that goes back to your childhood. Now goes back for some of you, to your deep, most deeply held beliefs of like, we can't allow a child to challenge our authority. And so you make it personal. And here's your default mode. You end up doing and saying the following. You better get your little butt in the car or you're going to lose all your privileges. Do you understand me? I don't have time for this right now. Do what I say or else. These are some of the options. I used to do all of these. There's no need to be upset or scared. It's just a simple 45 minute class. That's maybe one of the worst things you can say. You know, your brother never had any trouble doing this class. That's really helpful. Why do you always have to be so difficult? Look, I have to admit, I used to pull that one out on Casey and I was so close to destroying my relationship with him. Why do you have to make everything so difficult? How are you ever going to be successful in life if you can't follow simple directions? Sometimes we go. Just wait until your father gets home. You know, you're not going to talk to me like that, young man. If you don't get in the car right now, you're going to lose your video games and screens for one month. Do you hear me? And the truth is, yeah, they hear you, but you're not hearing your child. You're making this situation all about you. No blame, no guilt. But you're making this about you, about your authority and what you want. But you're not listening to your child because you're too focused on changing or controlling his behavior instead of your own. But if you could control yourself, this is how you'd see the situation and this is what you would hear. See, your child in this moment doesn't have the maturity yet to say, mother, I'm feeling quite overwhelmed by all the unknowns of this new experience. I've always had a hard time connecting with kids my own age. I get along better with adults and younger kids or animals. So I'M afraid the other kids at Taekwondo class are going to pick on me and I have a lot of difficulty with multi step processes and auditory processing. So I'm scared that I'm going to fail at Taekwondo. And the truth is, I'm afraid that I'm going to disappoint you, dad and my instructor. And at this moment in my life, I'm too fragile emotionally to risk one more failure and I can't feel rejected again. So I'm going to call you names, I'm going to challenge your authority, and I'm going to be so disrespectful right to your face that your only option is to punish me. Because the truth is, I'd rather be caged in my room. I'd rather lose everything I enjoy in life than face the risk of failure and rejection one more time in my life. And I wish I knew how to tell you, but my fear overwhelms me, just like your anxiety about me is overwhelming you right now. So I react out of fear. And what I need right now is for the adult in the home to show me a different way out of this. But you never do that. Instead, you react just like I do and you yell at me and you shame at me, shame me. And you send me to my room, but you don't tell me how to deal with this. See, that's what's going on. And if they could tell you that, you would say, oh, because here's what you and I miss. You're not looking at a defiant child. I used to think he's a defiant little snot that makes my life difficult. That's not what you're looking at. You're looking at a scared kid who's never fit in with peers, who feels genuine dread when trying new things because it's out of his control. Remember the first podcast we did in this series? What was our first step to understand that meltdowns come because you feel out of control? And the second step was control yourself. First, you're looking at a kid who's rarely been praised by people. He's always been in trouble. He's always been the bad kid. He doesn't do homework quickly or get good grades like his perfect brother or sister. And now you just berated him and demeaned him. You further reinforce that he's a difficult child who brings the trouble on himself. Look, you're a good parent. And so I know this is what I know, you don't want to keep doing this. So here's a different way.
