Wisdom Wednesday

I am starting a new feature called "Wisdom Wednesday". If you have read my blog before you know I have been a mom for a long time, 13 years. Yet I am still learning as I go. All kids are different and different tactics work for each child. What I plan to do with Wisdom Wednesday is just that, write about the new things I am learning.

My wisdom for todays Wisdom Wednesday is this: Arguing with your children is bad business. Both of the older girls love to argue with me - on EVERYTHING. Even at 3 LD is just as bad as AM at 13. It is exhausting. I have learned to tell them "it isn't up for discussion, I gave you the answer that is that" and I have to walk off. I am sure many people think I am a mean mom but as your kids get older you have to have boundaries for them and you. What do you think is acceptable to be doing at what age? If you don't stand strong while they are young than it will be a big battle when they are tweens and teens. Trust me on this, there was a time that I let AM have her way all of the time. There are many times I have to remind her that I am the mother and I am okay with her not liking me. (All teenagers will dislike you on certain days.) When you stand and argue with your kids on any topic this is how every topic will be handled.(Unless they like your first answer) I have also found that standing around arguing with them just makes the mood in the house negative. Like I said this process of arguing about everything is exhausting and this has not always been the way I operate. I am not perfect at it but I am getting better and there are definetly days that I just don't have the energy to deal with it. Stay strong!

How do you handle the situation of your children arguing with you? If your children are not old enough have you thought about your boundaries for when they get older?