Setting limits. Shutting down a boisterous game. Telling your kids no.
It can be tough to disappoint or anger your children, says psychologist Madeline Levine, but discipline is an important part of parenting.
Video transcript
“Parents have two jobs 鈥� to love their kids and to discipline them. And disciplining means setting limits. And we鈥檙e on the wrong track when we think it鈥檚 all about nurturing and love 鈥� that鈥檚 the warm, delicious part of parenting. The really tough part is you pull the plug on a game, or you say, ‘You can鈥檛 go out,’ or, ‘You don鈥檛 get the keys this weekend because you did something,’ and your kid’s furious at you. OK. You鈥檙e the grown-up. They鈥檙e in process of developing. You have to be able to tolerate their anger. Okay? It鈥檚 hard. It鈥檚 so easy, you know, when they鈥檙e grown and out of the house to offer all this opinion. But I do think that鈥檚 a huge issue. I think moms, because they have 鈥� my next book is on moms 鈥� I think, because they have so little support in the community, and the community is so competitive, that mothers have very little support outside the family. And so the kids become their go-to people. And your go-to people, you don鈥檛 want really pissed off at you all the time. So you avoid conflict with them.”
