I hate you!

When your kid says “I hate you!”
by, Patience Domowski, LCSW

When your kid says “I hate you!” and how to handle it…

1)      Remember you’re not alone. Many kids say this at some point to their parents.

2)      Recognize they usually don’t mean it. Knowing they don’t mean it and it’s not personal can help parents feel better about themselves and also not overreact. Instead of getting hurt or angry, recognize that your child is really trying to communicate something.

3)      Realize it’s a lack of skill. They don’t know how to express their frustration properly. Teach them by modeling the correct feelings words, giving them space to calm down and later discussing with them how they could’ve handled that situation differently.

Usually when kids say “I hate you” or similar mean things like “I want a different family!”, “You’re the worst parent”, etc… they are really trying to say “I don’t like the answer you gave me”, “I’m upset I'm not getting what I want”, or “I’m mad/frustrated/etc”.

Instead of saying “We don’t say Hate” or “You don’t mean that” or “You’re hurting my feelings” etc try saying this instead: “Sounds like you’re frustrated. Can you say “I’m really mad!” or “I don’t like that!” Model it for your child and hopefully they will copy you in the moment and then remember next time how to handle it.

4)      Teach empathy. Talk to them later about how they would feel if someone said “I hate you” to them when they really didn’t mean it. Even if they apologized later. Explain how it makes parents feel. Talk to the child about their feelings and teach them to identify some better coping strategies.

5)      Train kids to change their thoughts from Negative to Positive. Instead of seeing the bad sides to situations, help the child identify the positive sides of the situation. Over time they will better be able to handle disappointments.

Here's a link to a list of great responses!

Arguing- it takes 2 to tango!

Arguing

Just like it takes two to tango, it takes two to argue. So when a parent says the child constantly argues they are implying that the parent is arguing back too. How do we stop this as parents? Simple answer: STOP ARGUING. Don’t answer back. Ignore constant invitations to engage in arguing behavior. Remind your child you already gave them a response and that’s it. If they continue to ask, perhaps give a consequence.

Arguing problem example

Child: Mom, may I have a cookie right now?

Mom: No, we are saving the cookies for dessert tonight.

Child: But mom, I’m really hungry! I want a cookie now!

Mom: No, you just had a snack. It’s almost dinner time.

Child: I’m still hungry! I can’t wait for dinner! I want it now!

Mom: I told you, you have to wait until dessert time after dinner.

Child: But I want it now! You never let me have anything to eat! You starve me all the time! You’re the worst mom ever!

Mom: No, I feed you all the time, We’re eating dinner in about 15 minutes anyway.

Child: (Starts to cry/tantrum) I want a cookie! I hate you!

Mom: (loses cool) What is your problem?! I’m the best mom ever- some moms never give their kids cookies! If you keep acting like this I’ll never feed you again!

… okay maybe not to that extreme… In this example the child engaged mom in arguing, even though Mom did a great job sticking to her word and not giving in to what the child wanted, the child still was arguing to get what they wanted and mom was losing her cool and getting upset.

Let’s try this instead. Sometimes its called “Asked and Answered” (I didn’t invent that term, but it makes a lot of sense. Basically you just remind the child you already gave them a response. You might explain why, if not obvious, but then you let it go.)

Arguing Solution:

Child: Mom, may I have a cookie right now?

Mom: No, we are saving the cookies for dessert tonight.

Child: But mom, I’m really hungry! I want a cookie now!

Mom: I already answered your question. I’m not going to talk to you any more about it.

Child: I want it now! I want a cookie! I can’t wait! I’m starving! You never feed me! Why can’t I have one now? (etc…)

Mom: (ignores child)

Argument over.

Child can continue to scream/tantrum but knows he’s not going to engage mom in discussing this anymore.

Sometimes if child does this kind of behavior a lot I would add this..

Mom: If you keep asking for a cookie/screaming/crying, then you won’t get a cookie after dinner for dessert at all. It’s your choice.

Hopefully child will stop at this point. If they don’t then mom needs to stick to her word and no cookie during dessert time. Next time the child will likely remember this consequence and avoid this behavior completely. It may take a few tries to get to that point! 

Homework battles

Homework battles

If your kid is giving you a hard time about doing homework there are a few options:

-let the teacher handle it/school consequences

-set up a reward system

-don’t allow child to play/watch TV until homework is completed

-offer help if they ask nicely

Parents vary on their stances on homework such as:

-“as long as it’s done”

-“it has to be done perfect”

-“I have no idea if he/she did it or not”

There are pros and cons of each approach. The first one is pretty typical and avoids most battles but still makes sure the work is done, the second one makes sure child is learning the work but can involve a lot of power struggles because parent makes child do it over and over to get it perfect. The third one inspires independence for your child but if they aren’t doing it the parents don’t even know until perhaps they start getting graded on homework (middle school, sometimes earlier depending on your child’s school).