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Children Should Be Allowed To Get Angry Too! |
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by LoyalMiss (January 2007) (rank 500+) |
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Children should be allowed to get angry too. It is what they do with their anger that parents need to consider - not the fact that they get angry.
I remember a couple of years ago, when I was visiting my sister on the other side of Australia, and
I told my oldest son that he wasn't allowed to do something he very much wanted to do. He thought about it for a minute and then said "Mum I'm very angry at you". I replied "That's okay darling, it's what you do with your anger that counts". I then asked him if he wanted to talk to me about it and he stated that he was too angry and didn't want to talk to me. He then stormed off.
My sister looked at me and I could see she was horrified. Now she has a son the same age as mine and she said to me, "How dare you tell your child that it is alright for him to be angry with you? If my son learns that from you I will never forgive you".
I couldn't believe what she was saying to me and I asked her, "Sis, do you have that much control over your son that you can tell him he can't be angry with you and he isn't?". She too stormed off and made my stay with her very difficult. I ended up leaving earlier than planned.
As it turned out my son came back to me about 15 minutes later, ready to tell me why he was angry at me. I explained why I had made my decision and after some discussion, my son and I resolved the issue in question.
Why shouldn't my son have the right to tell me when I have made him angry? If he can't tell me then how is he going to be able to tell others in his life?
Children need to be able to express how they feel. We, as their parents, need to teach them ways to do this in a safe way that doesn't harm them or others - not forbid them to be angry at us. I would be the first to admit that I am not perfect and yes I am going to say and do things that make my children angry with me. I would rather they tell me to my face than find out from someone else and I would rather they tell me immediately rather than bottle it up. Bottling up anger is not healthy for anyone and usually ends up causing the issue to be far bigger than it needs to be.