Children demand so much of us as parents and often seem to give us back so little in return. However, when most of us reflect on our children and their impact on our lives, we know that kids are well worth the effort. They cost thousands of dollars, take up most of our time and we worry about them all the time, but they provide us with so much joy. But what do you do when your children are really annoying? What do you do when your children spill their milk, wet the bed, yell at you and insult other people?
It can be difficult to deal with kids because in many cases they don’t really know what they are doing. They often don’t mean to do harm and even when they do they often don’t understand the nature of the harm they are doing. So what is the most annoying thing that your child has ever done and how did you deal with it?
Listed below are the six most annoying things that kids say, with some tips about how to deal with it:
1. “What’s for dinner?” If your child asking what is for dinner makes you feel like hired help, or worse, then handle the situation the right way the first time they ask. Start by answering, then explain that in the future you will not answer the question. The best way to handle this situation is to explain to your children how it makes you feel to hear the question. Establish the fact that the question is off limits and that you will not answer it. If you do not answer them however, they will not listen to what you say.
Kids Annoying Mom
2. “Shut up!” If you do not want your child to use this phrase, do not say it yourself. Additionally, make it a phrase that is against the rules, or off limits in your house. This will keep your children from saying it with frequency and when they do you can establish some sort of punishment for it.
3. “You’re stupid.” Perhaps it is because a young, barely educated child is telling me that I’m stupid that this one offends me. However, I think it is more because the children have no sense of all the things I do for them that it really grinds my gears. The best strategy to deal with this is to outlaw saying this under threat of severe punishment.
4. “I’m hungry.” Obviously this can be an important piece of information for any parent to hear from a child, but it is also very important that you establish that you are not just a food slave. Make it clear to your children that they can fix themselves snacks as long as they are healthy.
5. “Why is that person ____?” You know the sort of question I’m talking about. Kids are naturally curious about the world and they don’t often understand that some questions can be insulting. They don’t realize that their observations are often heard by the people they are observing and that this can create some serious issues. Simply explain to your children that they should be kind and not ask awkward questions about people who are different from them.
6. “Googoo gaagaa”. Sometimes the most annoying thing a child says is not even a word at all. Although most kids have moved past the baby talk phase, sometimes they slide back into it just to be cute. The result is often that they start to jabber in the most annoying language. Explain how annoying this is to your child, that they need to speak words they’ve been taught and punish them if they do continue baby talk.
If you have heard one of these words or phrases out of your child’s mouth for the first time and you know it has not originated in your home, ask your child where they learned it and be mindful of that in the future. Make sure, if and when you punish a child for saying bad or off limits words that they understand and appreciate why they’re being punished. If you can relate to these words and their annoyance potential, hopefully the suggestions I’ve provided here will help you, in some small way, to have a more peaceful, less annoying day.