Adopting the right attitude to cheeky children

YOU don’t like her attitude and you don’t like her tone and most of all you don’t like that your child has just back-answered you.

What not to do is to react with a stinging reproach, call your child a name and shout, ‘Don’t you dare talk to me like that’. It’s best to stay calm and to speak respectfully so as to model for your child a better way of communicating.

Parent coach Marian Byrne has a few what-not-to-do tips for responding to a child who’s suddenly full of sass. “Don’t laugh. Don’t give it too much energy or attention. Don’t take it personally and don’t accept it just because their friends are around.”