Hearing your kid say, “I hate you” can be one of the hardest things to hear as a parent. Today, I’m giving you tangible, easy to apply strategies for handling “I hate you,” including ways to feel less upset by it and change the pattern.
In this episode:
Your child doesn’t actually hate you. They just don’t have the skill or language to describe their feelings in a healthier way (yet). Listen to learn how to give your kid better strategies for dealing with their big feelings and coach them toward emotional literacy.
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When your kid tells you they hate you, it’s easy to jump to thoughts about how disrespectful, embarrassing and hurtful they are being.
For the most part, kids don’t hate their parents. So, when they say, “I hate you,” what they’re usually trying to say is, “I hate this,” or “I hate this rule,” or “I hate this situation.”
Your child is communicating their frustration, disappointment, anger or hurt about the circumstance they are in. The strategy they’re using is to blame you because, in their mind, you are what is blocking them from getting the thing they want.
Of course, saying, “I hate you,” when they are disappointed is not how we want our kids to cope with negative emotion, so we will work to change the pattern. But we’re not trying to change the pattern because it’s disrespectful and rude.
We want to change it because it hurts our child to communicate their emotion this way. It is not a healthy way to cope. What we may not always see is that after the “I hate you,” they also have to deal with guilt and confusion over saying that to someone that they really love.
Our goal is to give them better tools to deal with discomfort and disappointment.
Step 1: Get neutral (CALM)
Start by reframing the statement. Remember that they are using that sentence to cope with discomfort or pain - a feeling that they don’t know how to deal with. Letting yourself know that it really isn’t about you will help you feel calm.
Next, find the pattern that you want to change. Is there something that seems to trigger the “I hate you”? Maybe it has something to do with screen time rules or when you tell them they can’t have a treat.
Step 2: Talk to your kid about the words (CONNECT)
Your child might not have the words for what they’re feeling or why they are upset.
Have a connection conversation with them outside of the “I hate you” moment. Share the pattern that you’ve noticed, and help them name the anger, frustration, sadness, disappointment, hurt, or whatever they might be feeling.
Here’s an example:
Hey, honey, I've noticed a pattern that when you get really mad about something, you say, “I hate you.” And saying, “I hate you” makes a lot of sense because you are really angry and you want to tell me that. Listen, I know you don't actually hate me because we love each other so much. I think you’re trying to say, “I hate this. I don’t like your rules. I don’t like when you say no to me.”
Give them some time to talk here, to complain a little about their life. Create space for their thoughts and feelings to come up. Just listen. Don’t try to defend yourself or convince them of anything. If there is something you do in that situation that is really causing a problem for them, take responsibility and apologize.
Step 3: Problem solving (LIMIT SET)
This is where we teach a new strategy. Set a limit with the goal of raising a kid who is able to communicate their real feelings with their parent (and others in their life). This is a kid who doesn’t have to show up in ways that don’t work and then feel bad about it and carry that guilt and shame.
We want our kids to be able to talk about the situation and separate the situation from the person. We’re giving the message that it’s okay to be mad about a rule or a situation, but it’s not okay to make it personal and tell someone you hate them.
Ask your child what they can say instead when they want to say, “I hate you.” Preview the situation and get their brain to think and problem solve in advance. They probably won’t always remember to use this new strategy, but you can practice and remind them of the plan.
Example:
I am not going to let you say, “I hate you” anymore because I know you don't hate me. I know you feel bad about it. I want you to be able to say, “I don't like the situation,” or “I hate this thing.” When you say, “I hate you,” I’m going to tell you to try again.
Step 4: Delay the conversation (CORRECT)
A big part of the parenting process is letting our kids make mistakes. They’re not always going to get this right and be able to self-correct in the moment.
When things get heated, delay the conversation and consequences. Give some time to let the emotion fizzle out. They’re already caught up in their negative emotions, and they don’t know what to do with those feelings. Threats will only create more negative emotion in both of you.
When things have calmed down, come back and talk about it. Remind them what happened, and let them know that it hurt your heart. Together, come up with something kind that they can do to make it up to you or something you can do together that you both enjoy.
They probably feel pretty yucky after saying that to you, and giving them a way to fix it feels better. You’re giving your kid an opportunity to repair so that they can make things right and so that they learn that their behavior has a consequence.
Example:
Remember earlier today, you said you hate me? Remember I had said I want you to say, “I hate this” instead? Listen, honey. I know you don't hate me, but when you say, “I hate you” to me, it does hurt my heart. And I know it hurts your heart too, because I know you love me. So why don't you do something that repairs the hurt that you caused? Would you be willing to do something kind for me to make that right? I'd love to do something together with you so that we can show how much we love each other.
Your child doesn’t actually hate you. They just don’t have the skill or language to describe their feelings in a healthier way (yet). As parents, we can give our kids better strategies for dealing with their big feelings and coach them toward emotional literacy.
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Welcome back to become a calm mama. I am your host. I'm
Speaker:Darlyn Childress. And today, we're gonna talk about when your
Speaker:kid says, I hate you. Okay? That can be
Speaker:one of the hardest things to hear as a parent,
Speaker:and it can be one of the most triggering things that your kids say.
Speaker:And so I wanted to give you some really
Speaker:tangible, easy to apply strategies to help
Speaker:change that pattern and also to give you some ways
Speaker:to think about it so that it doesn't upset you so much. So let's get
Speaker:right into it. And, essentially, today, I'm gonna be walking
Speaker:through the Calm Mama process, which is calm,
Speaker:connect, limit set, correct, using the
Speaker:example of I hate you. So that's, you know, kind of the
Speaker:model that I'm giving you is really the ComeMama process in action
Speaker:around a very specific behavior. Alright. So
Speaker:let's, like I said, dive right in. When your
Speaker:child says I hate you,
Speaker:what are they actually saying? Like
Speaker:just thinking about a kid and their parent.
Speaker:Kids don't hate their parents. Like, they just
Speaker:don't. It would be very difficult. I mean, like, a teenager, an older
Speaker:teenager might have a lot of resentment built up over
Speaker:years, and they might feel genuine hate
Speaker:because of the lack of connection that can be
Speaker:repaired. That is something that is, you know,
Speaker:more about the relationship dynamic that has happened over
Speaker:time. But for the most part, little
Speaker:kids, even up to, like, 15, 16, they
Speaker:if they say I hate you, they're not really
Speaker:saying, like, I hate you as a person, and I never wanna talk to you
Speaker:again, and I want you out of my life. What they are trying to
Speaker:say is I hate this. I hate this
Speaker:rule. I hate this situation. I
Speaker:hate your rules. It can even be specific. I hate
Speaker:being alone. I hate, you know, being told no. I
Speaker:hate having to do my homework. I hate
Speaker:cleaning up. I hate the end of screen time. I hate
Speaker:when you tell me no that I can't have the iPad. What your
Speaker:child is really doing or or communicating is
Speaker:their frustration, their disappointment, their anger, their hurt
Speaker:about the circumstance they are in. And the
Speaker:language that they have to describe that frustration
Speaker:and that overwhelm and that hurt and anger and
Speaker:all the big feelings that they have, the the tool that they have that, that
Speaker:they can think of right there is to blame you, to say I hate you.
Speaker:Because in their mind, you are the
Speaker:circumstance that is blocking them from getting the thing they
Speaker:want. And so they don't hate you. They hate
Speaker:the circumstance. They are looking at you as if you created the
Speaker:circumstance and that you can fix it. And they are mad, but
Speaker:they're ultimately upset about the circumstance.
Speaker:So I wanted to really frame this up because
Speaker:it can look like, oh my god. My child is so
Speaker:disrespectful or really embarrassing if they say it in front of other
Speaker:people. And I wanna give you some space in
Speaker:your head and in your heart to, like,
Speaker:really see it as a as pain, as discomfort,
Speaker:as disappointment talking. As you hear
Speaker:it's like a Jedi mind trick for you. You hear the
Speaker:child say, I hate you, and you in your mind,
Speaker:and you turn it around, and you're like, oh, they hate this thing.
Speaker:If you are able to do that, to
Speaker:to reframe what they're saying and see that there is feelings
Speaker:driving that sentence, that the
Speaker:the sentence I hate you is really because they have a feeling that they
Speaker:can't cope with, and this is their strategy that they're using to cope with
Speaker:that feeling. When you're able to do that,
Speaker:you will feel calm. You won't get
Speaker:so charged up about it. You won't make the
Speaker:sentence be the thing you need to discipline. Now I'm
Speaker:gonna give you strategies of how to change that pattern
Speaker:because I don't think you need to change that pattern because it's
Speaker:disrespectful. The reason why you wanna change that pattern is
Speaker:because it hurts your child.
Speaker:If they are saying I hate you to their parent
Speaker:and then they have to deal with that guilt afterwards and that
Speaker:discomfort and the confusion in their mind because they're like, well, I don't
Speaker:really hate you, but I hate this thing, but I don't know how to talk
Speaker:about it. It's so confusing in their mind. And
Speaker:we don't want your children to walk around with extra
Speaker:pain, with extra confusion, with with extra
Speaker:baggage for treating their parent badly. Kids don't
Speaker:like doing that. So we are gonna change the pattern. I'm gonna give
Speaker:you a a limit around that and how to how to implement that limit.
Speaker:But I first want you to understand that we're not changing this pattern
Speaker:because it's disrespectful, because it's rude. That's more
Speaker:about the external and performance of it.
Speaker:Instead, I want you to see it as this is a strategy my child
Speaker:is using to to communicate their emotion, and this
Speaker:strategy doesn't isn't healthy for them.
Speaker:I mean, truthfully, it's not healthy for you either to hear that. But if you
Speaker:were really neutral about it, it's kinda like if a little kid, like, a 3
Speaker:or 4 year old's like, you're a poo poo head. Like, are you you're not
Speaker:a poo poo head. Right? I mean, you're not like, oh my god. They think
Speaker:I'm a poo poo head. You're able to go. Yeah. No. No. No. They're
Speaker:mad. They're sad. Right? They're they don't have the
Speaker:language to communicate this thing, you know, that
Speaker:they feel. So when your child doesn't have that
Speaker:the skill of the language to describe their feelings, that's always our
Speaker:responsibility in emotional health and in
Speaker:coaching our children towards emotional literacy. Remember,
Speaker:I say this all the time but emotional literacy is I know what I'm feeling.
Speaker:I know how to talk about it, and I know what to do with those
Speaker:feelings. So when your kid is saying I hate you,
Speaker:they might not know what they're feeling or they don't might not know what it's
Speaker:called. So we wanna name it anger, frustration, hurt, disappointment,
Speaker:sadness. And then we wanna give our kids a better strategy.
Speaker:Instead of saying I hate you, you can say I hate this.
Speaker:And we need to train them, like, not train them like a dog, but,
Speaker:like, expose them to a new pattern and give
Speaker:them the opportunity to do that. Okay. So I think you've got that part.
Speaker:You understand that it's not personal that
Speaker:these are the words I hate you are just feelings being expressed. Your
Speaker:child does not actually hate you, and they
Speaker:it's in their best interest for you to teach them a new way to communicate.
Speaker:So then how do you do that? Okay? So you imagine we are calm. Right?
Speaker:That's the first part of the calm mama process
Speaker:is your calm. Then the second part is connect.
Speaker:So I want you to have a connection conversation with
Speaker:your child outside of the moment that
Speaker:they're saying I hate you. Okay? So this is sometimes I
Speaker:call this preview. This is a pattern disruption. I
Speaker:don't really have a clever name, but this is kind of like
Speaker:when you see a pattern with your children, a behavior
Speaker:that's driving you crazy, a behavior that doesn't work, it's a strategy
Speaker:that's causing harm for them or others,
Speaker:we are going to go and have a correction conversation, and then we're
Speaker:gonna set a limit, and then we're gonna follow through. So that's the process.
Speaker:So I want you to think about the connection tool. If you're a long time
Speaker:listener, you know the connection tool is the tool that we
Speaker:use to, give our kids access
Speaker:to understanding what they're feeling based on how they're acting.
Speaker:So you look at the child and, you know, you're like, okay.
Speaker:You we do connection in our heart first. We go, okay. This kid really hates
Speaker:the iPad rules, really gets mad whenever I say no
Speaker:to cookie or whatever it is. Right? And then they say I hate you. So
Speaker:you find the pattern. Great. That's the first part.
Speaker:Then you talk to your child about it. Talk to your
Speaker:child. You you talk with your child about it. Okay?
Speaker:We go and we say. This is a script I'm giving you. So
Speaker:we're saying, hey, kid. Hey,
Speaker:honey. You know, I noticed that you have a pattern or
Speaker:a habit that sometimes when you get really upset, you say I hate you. And
Speaker:you say I hate you. Right? So if they're little, you're gonna use kind of
Speaker:that dramatic affect. Right? You say, I hate you, mommy. Right? Or if
Speaker:they're a little bit older, 8 or 9, you can be a little more matter
Speaker:of fact. You could say, hey. I've noticed a pattern that when you get really
Speaker:mad about something, you say I hate
Speaker:you. Okay? So we're just narrating
Speaker:what happens. And then we're gonna
Speaker:name the feeling underneath it. You can
Speaker:say, and saying I hate you makes a lot of
Speaker:sense because you are really angry. I want like, you know, is that
Speaker:what happens for you when you're feeling when you say I hate you, are you
Speaker:really, really mad? You can ask the
Speaker:question and let them answer. You can say, yeah, of course. Of course,
Speaker:you're angry. Rules are hard. Being a kid is hard.
Speaker:Yeah. It's this is this is difficult. So you're really spending a
Speaker:minute validating the feeling and the difficulty that
Speaker:they're experiencing. You say, it makes
Speaker:perfect sense. Makes perfect sense that you would say I
Speaker:hate you because you get overwhelmed, you get angry, and you wanna tell
Speaker:me that. And so you say I hate you. Is that
Speaker:right? Okay. So you give them some space to answer. And
Speaker:then you say, listen, hon. I know you don't actually
Speaker:hate me. I know you don't because we love each
Speaker:other, and we we're very close. We love each
Speaker:other so much. I know you love me. I know you don't hate me. So
Speaker:in that moment, I think you're saying I hate this.
Speaker:I don't like your rules. I don't like your
Speaker:limits. I don't like when you say no to me. I don't like when you
Speaker:take away the iPad. Are you
Speaker:actually saying when you say I hate this, are you saying I I mean, when
Speaker:you say I hate you, are you actually saying I hate this situation?
Speaker:And then you pause and you let your child talk a little bit about it.
Speaker:And they might even say, yeah. I hate that you have so many screen
Speaker:time rules, or I hate that you make me go to the doctor, or I
Speaker:hate that you say, that we can go to our friend's house
Speaker:and then you change your mind all the time. So we give them a little
Speaker:room to kinda complain about their life, and we
Speaker:listen. This is the time when I think about listening,
Speaker:compassionate listening really is just being available to their
Speaker:thoughts and being neutral, not trying to convince
Speaker:them, not defending yourself, not blaming them.
Speaker:It's like sometimes I say you wanna be as as
Speaker:neutral as a piece of paper. Right? If you were
Speaker:thinking about doing a journal and you were gonna write down all your
Speaker:negative complaining terrible thoughts, the paper doesn't
Speaker:talk back to you. It doesn't try to argue with you or convince you that
Speaker:you're wrong or defend itself. Right? The paper is neutral.
Speaker:So I want you to practice just listening. We're like, yeah. Okay. All of what
Speaker:you just said made sense. I'm not changing the rules.
Speaker:Okay? You just because someone tells you they don't like something and
Speaker:you listen doesn't mean you then have to change.
Speaker:Now if there's some genuine thing that you do that is
Speaker:frustrating, you can apologize. You'll say, I can work on that. You know, if
Speaker:you run late a lot or you change your mind a lot or
Speaker:whatever thing happens and you have some responsibility, you can take
Speaker:responsibility. Say, yeah. Thanks for letting me know. I'm gonna work on that.
Speaker:So you give some room for this
Speaker:connection conversation. Right? You allow some of the emotions and
Speaker:some of their thoughts to come up, and you just create some space.
Speaker:Now not every kid is gonna talk. That's fine. You
Speaker:they're okay. Yes. No. Right? It's okay. Even like a 2
Speaker:or 3 year old, they might not have much to say. That's fine.
Speaker:We're just gonna let them know that they're
Speaker:saying, I hate you because they have big
Speaker:feelings. Their big feelings make sense. That's fine.
Speaker:And it makes sense that they would say I hate you because they don't know
Speaker:how to say I hate this. Okay.
Speaker:So now we're gonna move forward and we're gonna
Speaker:start to problem solve a little bit. So you can say to your
Speaker:child when, you know, I
Speaker:know you don't hate me, and I don't want you to say I hate you
Speaker:and then feel bad later. So I'm not gonna let you say that anymore.
Speaker:So this is where we're really kind of communicating that we're gonna set a limit
Speaker:around this behavior. And I'm I wanna remind you, like I
Speaker:said in the top of this episode, that your reason
Speaker:for setting this boundary isn't because you
Speaker:need to raise a respectful child who doesn't say I hate
Speaker:you. No. We wanna raise a kid
Speaker:who is able to communicate their real feelings with
Speaker:their parent and then doesn't show up in
Speaker:ways that don't work and then feels bad about it and carries that guilt
Speaker:and shame with them throughout life. That's our reason
Speaker:for saying to our child. I am not gonna let
Speaker:you say I hate you anymore because then I I know you
Speaker:don't hate me. I know you feel bad about it, and I want you to
Speaker:be able to say I don't like the situation. I hate
Speaker:this thing. Alright? So you can ask your child what do you think you can
Speaker:say instead when you're gonna say when you wanna say
Speaker:I hate you, what are some other things you could
Speaker:say? So you problem solve and you get their
Speaker:brain to start doing some thinking in advance.
Speaker:Really, they're previewing the situation where
Speaker:they would wanna say I hate you and they're problem solving and
Speaker:they're planning a new behavioral strategy. They're coming up
Speaker:with it in advance. Now will they be able to remember it?
Speaker:Maybe, maybe not. But you're gonna keep talking about it and you're gonna keep
Speaker:reminding them, uh-uh, I don't let you say I hate you
Speaker:anymore. What What can you say instead? So you're gonna be
Speaker:practicing it, but the first time you introduce it, you're gonna let them
Speaker:problem solve. I hate this. I hate your rules. I
Speaker:hate your I I hate being told no. I
Speaker:don't like, you know, you, changing
Speaker:your mind. Okay? We don't want our children to name
Speaker:call. Name call is when you attack the person. We want our kids to be
Speaker:able to talk about the situation
Speaker:and separate the situation from the person so
Speaker:that they can talk about the situation and their thoughts about the situation.
Speaker:Not make it personal. We wanna help them not personalize things just like
Speaker:you're not personalizing things. Yeah? I wanted to
Speaker:say something else about this is that, you know,
Speaker:when you teach your kids to separate circumstances from,
Speaker:from people, they are actually able to do that for
Speaker:themselves too. Because I don't want your child just to go around
Speaker:saying, I hate myself. I hate me
Speaker:because that's not a great thought to have
Speaker:about yourself. Right? Instead, I would love for your
Speaker:child to say, I hate when I,
Speaker:make a mistake, or I hate when
Speaker:I, you know, name call my brother
Speaker:and get in trouble. I want them to start to be
Speaker:able to separate themselves from their actions.
Speaker:So by you modeling this by saying, I don't I I'm not gonna let
Speaker:you say I hate you, but you can tell me that you don't like the
Speaker:circumstance. You're actually giving them room in their brain to
Speaker:separate circumstances from people, including themselves. Super
Speaker:cool little tangent there. Okay. So you've
Speaker:had this conversation, this connection conversation,
Speaker:this pre problem solving. You're giving them some ideas of what
Speaker:to do with their big feelings when they come up. So it's like you can't
Speaker:say I hate you, but what can you do instead? So the connection
Speaker:tool is narrating this the behavior, naming the emotion,
Speaker:and then now what are the new strategies?
Speaker:So you're say you're gonna say, okay. Great. We've
Speaker:got a plan. Now I'm not gonna let you
Speaker:say I hate you anymore. When you say it,
Speaker:I'm going to tell you try again. Okay? So you
Speaker:just let him know that there's gonna be a limit around it. So that's
Speaker:a connection conversation in advance. Now you can't have these
Speaker:conversations until you see a pattern. So really being
Speaker:neutral about your kid's behavior and looking for patterns and looking for behaviors that
Speaker:are making you mad is really helpful. Like,
Speaker:thinking like, oh my god. That's so triggering to me. I hate it when my
Speaker:kid does that. Like, whatever the thing is, then we're gonna
Speaker:be calm about it. We're gonna understand that feelings drive behavior. We're gonna get to
Speaker:compassion. We're gonna talk to our kid about the pattern, and then we're gonna set
Speaker:the limit. And that's in advance.
Speaker:Then, okay, now in the moment, you are
Speaker:going to see yourself as
Speaker:disciplining which really
Speaker:discipline has a couple different meanings, right? One
Speaker:is is training, Right? Training
Speaker:someone of how to
Speaker:act. Right? Or it can be a branch of knowledge.
Speaker:Right? You know, like, sociology is
Speaker:a branch of of of knowledge. It's a, new
Speaker:discipline. Right? So we have our child and
Speaker:we're trying to give them some knowledge and teach them some
Speaker:strategies to figure out how to be in the world.
Speaker:Right? So it can be seen as
Speaker:negative, but really I see it as, you know, I'm very disciplined
Speaker:in my in my habits. Right? We use that phrase, and
Speaker:so I want my children to have the ability to
Speaker:change their behavior, to change their habits, and I'm
Speaker:gonna help them. So how does that look in the
Speaker:moment your child says you say, okay. Let's just do the iPad.
Speaker:The let's do it where they're like, can I have the iPad?
Speaker:And you're like, no. Okay? Or you say
Speaker:you're welcome to use the iPad on Saturdays Sundays as long as there's no problems
Speaker:this week. K? You can have a great limit or whatever
Speaker:or you just be like, no. It's fine. And then they're like, why?
Speaker:I don't know. Why? Why are you can't you give it to me? Other kids
Speaker:get it all the time, and other parents are nice, and you're mean,
Speaker:and, you know, this is not cool, and and you're they're goading you
Speaker:into having a conversation. Right? You can be really strong
Speaker:there. You can be disciplined, as we say, and just say, oh, I'm
Speaker:not open for discussion. I'm I'm not open for this
Speaker:conversation. It's okay to be mad about my rules, but I'm not
Speaker:really answering questions right now about my rules. You can say
Speaker:that at any age, by the way. And then they're like, oh my
Speaker:god. I hate you. And you say, uh-uh. Remember,
Speaker:I'm not gonna let you say I hate you, but you are welcome to tell
Speaker:me that you don't like something I'm doing. So
Speaker:try again. You can say, I hate this. I hate your
Speaker:rules. I hate this situation. Try again.
Speaker:We really wanna give our kids the opportunity in the moment
Speaker:to see their own pattern, to see their strategy,
Speaker:to say, look, you're getting really mad. And instead of just
Speaker:saying I'm really angry and I don't like this situation, you're
Speaker:personalizing it, and you're saying I hate you.
Speaker:So you can say, I know you don't hate me. It's okay to be
Speaker:mad. It's not okay to say I hate you. Try
Speaker:again. And then let
Speaker:them figure out if they're gonna do you know, they might be like, ah, use
Speaker:yeah. Yeah. I hate you. They may still keep doing it. They
Speaker:may still stay in their pattern.
Speaker:That's okay. We're gonna let them fail. We're gonna
Speaker:let them make that mistake again.
Speaker:A big part of this process, this parenting process that
Speaker:you're learning is that kids are going to make
Speaker:mistakes. They're not going to be able to self
Speaker:correct in the moment. Their emotions are gonna get ahead of them. They're
Speaker:gonna have a lot of big feelings. They're not gonna know what to do with
Speaker:those big feelings, and they're gonna come out through their behavior.
Speaker:And so we need to let them come out. We can set that
Speaker:limit, remind them, reset, and then see what
Speaker:happens. And then if they are able to keep it and
Speaker:they reset, I'm sorry. I just don't like the situation. Great.
Speaker:Okay. We'll talk about it in a little bit. We're we're all really upset right
Speaker:now. So you can kind of delay
Speaker:that conversation. Now they
Speaker:might not be able to reset. They might not be able to kind
Speaker:of pull put on the brakes of their own emotions. They might, oh, you
Speaker:know what? I hate you even more. Okay.
Speaker:So if they said that, that's fine. Okay.
Speaker:Okay. You're really upset. Let them let that
Speaker:emotion just fizzle out. It does. You don't need to do anything in the
Speaker:moment. This is the whole thing about delaying consequences.
Speaker:What are you supposed to do in the moment when your child is already upset
Speaker:that you said no about something? The only thing you're gonna do is
Speaker:threaten to take away more privileges in the future.
Speaker:And it's just gonna create more negative emotion in both of you. It's not
Speaker:worth it. Your child has a feeling they don't know what to do with. It's
Speaker:coming out through their behavior. No problem. Delay.
Speaker:Circle back later. K? The process, remember, I'm calm
Speaker:about I hate you, I connect with them about I hate you, I set a
Speaker:limit around I hate you, and then correct. So calm,
Speaker:connect, limit set correct. So now we come back
Speaker:and we say, hey. Remember yesterday or earlier
Speaker:today, you said you hate me. Remember
Speaker:that? And you said, you know, you said
Speaker:I hate you. And I had said, you know, I want you to say I
Speaker:hate this. Do you remember that? And, like,
Speaker:no. I don't know. Who knows? Whatever they say is fine.
Speaker:Okay. Listen, honey. I know you don't hate me,
Speaker:but when you say I hate you to me, it does hurt
Speaker:my heart. And I know it hurts your heart too
Speaker:because I know you don't hate me. I know you love
Speaker:me. So why don't you do
Speaker:something that repairs the hurt that you caused?
Speaker:Would you be willing to do something kind for me
Speaker:to make that right and to show that how much we love each
Speaker:other? I'd love to do something together with you because I know you
Speaker:don't hate me. I know you love me. And why don't we show
Speaker:how much we love each other? And then you can come up
Speaker:with something that you both love to do. Why don't we go for a walk
Speaker:together? Why don't we play with the dog for a minute? Why don't we, you
Speaker:know, put together the snack tray, like, you know, the snacks or whatever?
Speaker:Why don't we read a book together?
Speaker:Why don't you, kid, do a little chore for me?
Speaker:Because that would really repair and that would show me how much you love me.
Speaker:I know you love me but I know you also probably wanna show me that.
Speaker:So we're giving our kids an opportunity to repair
Speaker:so that they feel better about their behavior and so that they
Speaker:learn that their behavior has a consequence.
Speaker:So with I hate you, right, that what they're what
Speaker:the hurt is ultimately that they are hurting themselves
Speaker:by, you know, saying they hate their parent, and that
Speaker:feels gross and yucky. But if you give them a way to fix it, it
Speaker:feels better. So the purpose of the
Speaker:consequence isn't to cause them pain or shame, it's just to give them an
Speaker:opportunity to make things right, mostly for
Speaker:them. But you have to kind of hold it a little bit like, yeah. I
Speaker:know. I don't I don't like it. It hurts my heart a little bit because
Speaker:I know it's not true. I know you love me, and I know you wanna
Speaker:show me you love me. So let's figure out a way you can do
Speaker:that. So do you see how correction isn't
Speaker:necessarily because you said, I I hate you. I'm not giving you
Speaker:the iPad. Because you said I hate you, you know, I'm not
Speaker:taking you to the park. It it it doesn't need to
Speaker:be like a punishment like that. I'd rather be, hey.
Speaker:I know you don't hate me. Why don't you show me some ways that you
Speaker:love we love each other? And give them a
Speaker:chance to show that. That will feel good to them.
Speaker:Okay. I love you.
Speaker:Anybody who's listening? And, you know, this
Speaker:might be helpful in other relationships that you have of, like, you know,
Speaker:when somebody says something personal to you, recognizing
Speaker:that it's not actually personal, it probably has to do
Speaker:with some emotion. And even with an
Speaker:older teenager, you'd it doesn't have to be this big, you
Speaker:know, like, okay. They hate me. Our relationship is broken and
Speaker:ruined. It's like, no. This is probably years of some resentment
Speaker:and some frustration, and let's go ahead and, you know,
Speaker:work that out. That's, that's a topic for
Speaker:a different podcast episode, and it's also something we
Speaker:do in the emotionally healthy teens class, which is coming up. I
Speaker:only teach this class twice a year, and the next, class starts
Speaker:April 15th. We're gonna meet on Mondays at noon for 6
Speaker:weeks. The class, is at noon,
Speaker:Pacific, so 3 EST. And we're in that class,
Speaker:we talk about really repairing our relationship with our teenagers and how to parent
Speaker:them in a way that sets you up for the future so that you have
Speaker:a good relationship as they head into adulthood. And sometimes that
Speaker:means repairing some of the underlying resentment within
Speaker:you and them. Because sometimes we feel like we hate our
Speaker:kids. Right? But we're not, we don't. I know
Speaker:you don't. It's always just your own feelings of
Speaker:hurt and frustration about their behavior or
Speaker:the circumstances that you're in that you don't know how to communicate.
Speaker:So if you're curious about the emotionally healthy teen class, I recommend you go to
Speaker:the website, comama coaching.com. Under programs, you'll
Speaker:see teen class, and you can sign up and there it
Speaker:includes a workbook and a lot of support. So I, you know,
Speaker:I again, I'm not gonna teach that class again until October of
Speaker:2024. So I encourage you to sign up if you're interested.
Speaker:And, like always, if you wanna just chat with me and
Speaker:connect and talk about the different ways I work with people, the different programs I
Speaker:have, the other option is to book a consultation
Speaker:with me, and you can do that right directly on my website, calm mama coaching.com.
Speaker:And I'd be happy to talk with you and get to know you a little
Speaker:bit. So this week, really thinking about
Speaker:this phrase, I hate you if you have a kid that's in a pattern of
Speaker:I hate you. This is your episode. Relisten to it.
Speaker:And, if you have any questions or concerns, reach out to me.
Speaker:Alright. I hope you are having a great week, and I will talk to you
Speaker:next time.