Responding To Kids' Misbehavior

Do your children always behave the way you would like? Of course not! Misbehavior produces big feelings like anger and frustration. It can be challenging to come up with the best response in the heat of the moment.

Your kids will adjust their behavior based on your response. Ideally they learn to make better choices in the future rather than how to not get caught next time.

Sometimes you need to impose consequences in response to their behavior. That takes effort from you plus puts you in the position of policing their behavior. On the other hand, natural consequences simply happen without any effort from you ... and you can play the role of the "guide on the side" instead of police officer.

If your child's misbehavior continues and escalates, whatever you are doing is not working. Take a step back to plan a better approach.

The articles below may give you new ideas for responding to your kids' misbehavior. Click a picture to read the article.

How can you find solutions to misbehavior instead of just issuing consequences

Consequences Versus Solutions



How can pausing and planning help you respond better to children's behavior?

angry mom      pause and plan icon



How can you provide discipline that helps your children learn from their mistakes?

Mom talking to son



How can you help kids learn from natural consequences?

Natural Consequences - Touching Cactus, Getting Sliver When Barefoot, Police Traffic Stop



What are some ideas for handling embarrassing children's behavior?

Frustrated Parents Looking At Child Having Tantrum



How can you positively change your kids' behavior using shaping?

Shaping Your Child's Behavior



How do you respond to your kids swearing?

kids swearing sign



How can I get more parenting information?

Parenting can be hard. And it doesn't matter if you're a first-time parent of a toddler, or a seasoned parent with teens - every child is different, and every day is different. Priceless Parenting's online classes have transformed thousands of formerly frazzled families to become happier and more harmonious.

You can learn more about the parenting classes by clicking one of the links below. If your children are in multiple categories, we recommend taking the class for the oldest child's age.

Online parenting class - ages 5 and under

Online parenting class - ages 6 to 12

Online parenting class - ages 13 to 18