Stay calm and assertive when teaching your child about consequences in life

TIDY your room, wash your hands and we’ll have dinner. Except you don’t manage to say it all to your child; you get as far as “tidy your...” and he begins talking over you. 

Alternatively, he makes excuses: “I’m tired”, throwing himself on the floor, or, he asks why, you explain, he asks why, and it becomes a game of verbal volleyball.

Parents need to step out of the game, says Val Mullally, parent coach and author of Behave – What To Do When Your Child Won’t.