When You Shouldn’t Laugh at Your Child’s Distracting Antics Parents Families.com

When You Shouldn’t Laugh at Your Child’s Distracting Antics

The idea for this blog came to me when I was watching a little parent-child dynamic at the grocery store. The parent was trying to maintain some order and control and her child was acting up. The child had obviously mastered the art of performance as distraction and for attention. I could tell that the mother was trying NOT to laugh at her child’s misbehavior and the child was definitely being encouraged by the chuckles of passersby. It got me to thinking that sometimes, laughter is NOT the best medicine…

When I was growing up, my youngest sister was nearly five years younger than me. As the baby (and a future professional actor), she often used silly antics and performance to get her own way. As I remember it, my sister never got in trouble and was able to wiggle and dance her way out of everything. As I mentioned, she did become an actor, and a darn good one, and was able to parlay her natural ability to induce laughter into a career! BUT, I think that it is sometimes necessary for us as parents to control our laughter and maintain some control when our children start acting up. After all, what is cute and adorable for a two-year-old is no longer fun with a fourteen-year-old.

Of course, sometimes laughter is inevitable and is the perfect way to diffuse a stressful and unpleasant parenting moment. Laughing things off and seeing the humor in a child’s behavior is one thing (and can work in the parent’s favor), it is when the child starts to use behavior and antics to control and manipulate that a parent needs to get control. Letting a child know calmly and firmly that their behavior is inappropriate and while it might be funny to some people, it is NOT funny to you may take some acting on your part, but it will help guide a child in learning what is and what is not appropriate. And, letting a child know that he or she cannot just “perform” their way out of any unpleasant situation or use silly antics to get their own way.