WARNING—BRAT ON THE LOOSE

If you think your child’s selfish behavior is simply part of the terrible two’s. Think again. You could be raising a brat! This might be okay now, but I promise you that regret will start to seep in once your child hits puberty.

Sharing is one of the fundamental behaviors each person must learn in order to operate effectively in this world. This learned skill not only gives you a greater sphere of influence, it also teaches tolerance, which translates into personal power. How? Personal power is the ability to get everything you want in life because you can get others to willingly go out of their way for your cause. It’s magnetism, a charisma that is not in-born but learned. It starts with sharing. When we share, we are accepting less so others can have more. The key is to help your child do this with benevolent intent. Sharing with resentment is counter productive. Explain the benefits of sharing with your child:

1. When you share, you make everyone’s day brighter and happier. Use a comparison your child can relate to: “I feel good when I share the cookies I baked with you.”
2. When you share, you show others what a good friend you can be and everyone needs lots of friends.
3. Sharing makes you stronger, smarter and helpful.

We all say we want our kids to have the best life possible, but do we ruin them at the very stage in their lives when we could be molding world leaders? Yes, I am suggesting that learning to share can shape the future and eliminate the cycle of entitlement, replacing it with a cycle of acceptance and tolerance. I suggest you read the article “How to Raise a Polite Child.”
This seems so easy and logical. So why do mothers allow their children to be self- centered, spoiled brats? Because we are tired of settling for less. We’re tired of not getting what we want, so we turn our head and justify our kid’s bad behavior with an excuse: “This is a just a phase” “He is over tired today” or “She is normally always so nice.” Secretly we think, “Give the kid a break” “I don’t like sharing either” “It’s a dog eat dog world” “He will be better once he gets older” or “Let school teach him sharing.” We are tired, and teaching sharing takes work and energy.

What to do? Start small, start now. At dinner tonight break off a piece of your bread to share with your child, then share dessert.

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