We can do a lot to help our children be more truthful and honest. As parents, our response to children, both when they are honest and misbehave, has a significant impact on their inner thoughts, feelings and choices. Sometimes we get into a pattern of reaction and frustration, increasing the very behaviours we aren’t happy with.  Rather than impulsive reactions when our children act up, it is essential to take a few deep breaths and the time to be more proactive in our approach.

Encouraging honesty is something we can model, display in our daily conversations and activities and, of course, compliment and even reward when we see or hear about kids telling the truth. When we find out a lie has been told, our responses can foster distance and excessive guilt or elicit appropriate remorse and reconciliation.

Helping children repair the situation and learn from it is effective parental discipline or teaching. This is, however, often easier to say than do. Parent coaching is a resource that can assist with developing strategies to help children be accountable while also helping them feel good about themselves. For more information, contact us today!

Seven tips to help us, parents, up our game: structure, modelling, investing and more! Check out this video for strategies to strengthen your current parenting practices.