Q
Auntie Pearl, I really need your advice.
I have two children, the one is two and the other is eight years old.
I’m worried about the older one, because she goois tantrums and causes trouble at school.
Sy hou vir haar wysand she is good at observing.
She goes from hyper to just sitting and checking things out.
From Beryl.
A
It’s not easy being a mother, of wat sê ek, Beryl? And Auntie is not here to tell you how to raise your child.
It’s tough to get to the wortel van die kwaad just from the few sentences you have sent, maybe you should send Auntie a longer email with more details about your laaitie’s behaviour and your family set-up and so on.
That being said, we can at least start scratching at the problem, so kom Auntie maak wys…
The first thing to determine is whether her moodiness is merely part of her personality, or if it is actually because of some underlying issue.
Kyk, kindersof any age can be difficult, but what Auntie suggests is that you develop more effective ways of dealing with her tantrums.
Tantrums can be very stressful for a family, especially if they happen in public places waar mense judgerig is and try to tell you how to raise your kids.
Start off by taking note of when she goois ’n vloermoer and what the triggers could be.
Is it when you are in a strange situation, or when you are giving attention to your youngest child?
It’s very common for children of her age to be jealous of the aandag a younger sibling gets.
Sometimes you also just have to ignore the tantrums, at tough as it is, and rather pay more attention to her positive behaviour.
Praise the positive behaviour and reward her for being good, rather than just punishing her for being bad.
Auntie is a bit worried about these ‘mood swings’.
If things don’t change, you might need to have to see a psychiatrist to evaluate her as there could be any number of reasons for such behaviour.