When someone tries to be annoying (Mila, Age 9)

Ep. 31 – Mila, Age 9: When someone tries to be annoying | Taking care of yourself versus trying to change others

What can Mila and her friends do about a kid who keeps bothering them?

Would YOUR KID like to be featured on the podcast? SUBMIT A QUESTION TO DR. FRIENDTASTIC at https://drfriendtastic.com/submit/ 

(Obviously, this is not psychotherapy, and it’s not for emergency situations.)

For a TRANSCRIPT go to: https://DrFriendtastic.com/podcast/

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

- Do you or someone you know fit the description of a high-energy kid who has trouble sitting still and tends to act without thinking about what might happen or how others might react? What are some good things about having a lot of energy? In what ways can it cause problems with adults or other kids?

- What does compassion mean? Why can imagining what life is like for someone else help us gain compassion for that person? Why is it important to try to find compassion even for people who annoy us?

- Dr. Friendtastic said, “If you’ve asked a kid politely to stop doing something two times, and they haven’t listened, they’re probably not going to listen.” Why is this a useful guideline? (Hint: What does it prevent you from doing? What does it allow you to focus on instead?)

- We can’t control what others do, but we can control how we think about our situation. How can deciding that something someone else does isn’t important be a way of taking care of yourself? 

- How do you know when to ignore other kids’ misbehavior and when to go to the teacher or other adult for help?

Books mentioned in the podcast:

Growing Friendships: A Kids' Guide to making and Keeping Friends https://eileenkennedymoore.com/child-development-books/growing-friendships/

Growing Feelings: A Kids' Guide to Dealing with Emotions about Friends and Other Kids https://eileenkennedymoore.com/child-development-books/growing-feelings/

Like the podcast? Check out my books and webinars at https://EileenKennedyMoore.com

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