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Parenting Tips: Alternatives to Lashing Out at Your Child

The next time everyday pressures build up to the point where you feel like lashing out - STOP! Try any of these simple alternatives. You'll feel better and so will your child.

1. Take a deep breath and another. Then remember you are the adult.
2. Close your eyes and imagine you're hearing what your child is about to hear.
3. Press your lips together and count to 10, or better yet to 20.
4. Put yourself in a time-out chair. Think about why you are angry. Is it your child, or is your child simply a convenient target for your anger?
5. Phone a friend.
6. If someone can watch the children, go outside and take a walk.
7. Take a hot bath or splash cold water on your face.
8. Hug a pillow.
9. Turn on some music. Maybe even sing along.
10. Pick up a pencil and write down as many helpful words as you can think of. Save the list.
11. Call 1-800-CHILDREN for help.

1. Give Your Baby the Best Start in Life
2. Nurturing Your Child: Coping with a Crying Baby
3. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
4. Prevent and Stop Family Violence
5. Family Violence Hurts Children: Fast Facts
6. Help Children Avoid Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco
7. Preventing Shaken Baby Syndrome
8. Alternatives to Lashing Out at Your Child
9. Safety in the Game: Making Your Child the Top Priority
10. A Car is Not a Child's Toy
11. Keeping Kids Safe: Safety Where Children Are
12. Children and Water