When a Child Argues with Peers

Many of us have this idyllic vision of childhood friends—we picture our child wandering off into the field hand-in-hand with a best friend—happy, giggling, and best friends forever. The reality, however, is that children argue and fight too. Inviting a friend over for a play date can turn into a bicker-fest. As the parent in charge, is there anything we can do to cut back on the arguing or help our child learn how to communicate in other ways? First of all, arguing is not all bad. Sometimes, our child is working out all sorts of things in those arguments … Continue reading

Coping with an Argumentative Child

Some of us get lucky. We get one (or more) strong willed child who has all sorts of opinions and ideas about how things should be run in the world—and he or she might start at a surprisingly young age. It doesn’t matter whether you are in line at the grocery store, sitting in a church pew or the child is in class—he or she is quite eager and happy to take issue and argue with anyone and everyone. What is a parent to do? I think it can be helpful to remember that no personality trait or behavior is … Continue reading