PARENTING TIP #7.–FAMILY “BLOW-UPS”
June 2, 2012 by Scott Hammond
Filed under Scott Hammond
Every family melts down–sometimes! When things aren’t going well what can you do as a leader-parent?
Here are a few tips and ideas you can employ TODAY to help you and the fam get through the “rough spots” we all encounter in family living:
- Call for EVERYONE to take a :60 second “time-out”—Stop and walk away, take some breaths, and remove yourself from a volatile situation first.
- Call for EVERYONE to “freeze” (remember freeze tag?)—Stop the action and words of everyone for a minute or so before resuming.
- Discuss the Scene (drama!)–Have everyone stop and consider their roles and how they might make some changes in tone, words,body language etc…
- Replay the Scene–Make it a better “scene”. Replay it as many times as necessary to make a more positive scene and consequently a better overall “Family Play”
- Have Fun–Dare to have some humor and laugh with (not at) each other. Crack an appropriate joke and lighten the mood when trending toward a family drama.
Every family I know has “those moments”. Learn to manage them. You can and must be the lead in this drama before it becomes a tragedy. Introduce some good theatrics that help the team and lighten the mood and culture. Be a leader/director and you will surely win an Oscar!
win an "Oscar" for Best Director