How to Say “No” to Your Child and Mean It

A majority of parents these days are finding it difficult to say “no” or stick with it once they have said it.  Here are some tips for saying “no” and meaning it.

Assess the Situation

Ask yourself if the current situation is occurring in public or in the privacy of your own home or yard.  If saying the word no is going to cause your child to make a scene you may want to avoid the blatant “no” until you are safely in your car or at your own home.  This will make it easier to say “no” without worrying about your child throwing a temper tantrum or trying to embarrass you in other ways.  At least if you are in your car, with the windows up, and your child throws a tantrum after hearing that fateful word you can jokingly tell passerby’s they have Tourette Syndrome or something of that nature. 

Pick Your Battles

Do you find yourself saying no to everything?  Well stop being so strict and ease up a bit!  If you stop saying no to each and every thing that your child asks you then it will make it less hard to stick with.  Saying no to everything gives your child the impression that you aren’t really listening and that you don’t really care about what they have to say.  If they ask something that doesn’t involve a bunch of money or is hazardous to their health, then I think it would be okay to say yes once in a while.  It will mix it up a bit and throw your child off their usual game of begging until you say yes or throwing a temper tantrum.  This will allow you to finish your day with less of a headache.

Tone of You Voice

This is a huge step in telling your child “no” and meaning it.  There is a tone that every parent knows as well as every child.  It’s the dreaded “ask me again and you’re gonna get a butt whoopin’” tone.  If you can stick with that tone each time you say no to your child then you will succeed in stopping them from asking you a dozen more times or throwing the major temper tantrum that you are always trying to avoid.