Kids Getting Angry At Their Parents

"My child gets me so mad!"
"My child makes me so angry!"
"My child made me lose my temper!"
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. How the child acts is up to the child. How the parent chooses to feel in response is up to the parent. When parents give up responsibility for their emotional state by blaming their child for causing it, they give that child far too much power. Believing that the child is in charge of their feelings, parents now get really angry with the child for "controlling" their emotions. The law of psychological responsibility is simply this: Each individual (and no one else) decides how he or she is going to feel, think, and act. Emotions operate like an early awareness system. So why would parents decide to feel angry? The answer is in the question. Anger is a feeling, and like all emotions it is functional. Children get angry at their parents for the same reasons that they get mad at their friends. They are frustrated because they can’t do what they want or get something they want. They get angry in response to parents’ demands. Or they get angry in response to their parents’ anger. Children also get angry at their parents for two special reasons. They may feel afraid of certain events or whatever is going on, and they may use the anger to express or cover up those concerns. Rather than feeling helpless, children often become angry. Children in single-parent families may often worry about parents leaving them or not caring about them, and these concerns may also trigger anger. And when children go through changes or surprises in their lives, they may get angry as a way to get some control. Anger gives them a sense of power over their lives.