With young children, especially between the ages of four and seven, with it really peaking around five or six, you will often see lying as I talked about in the last episode, and stealing.
The part of the brain that’s in charge of executive functioning that really thinks about how my friend is going to feel if I steal this or what are the consequences going to be if someone finds out that I took this; all of that is higher order thinking. It’s beyond the current event and kids don’t even go there.
They look at that shiny thing… It’s pretty, it’s interesting, it’s cool, they want it and they have this very strong impulse to take it.
So what do you do when you find your child has stolen something?
Join me on this week’s episode where I discuss what is happening in the brain when a child is stealing and how we as parents can best love them into overcoming those strong impulses that often feel so overwhelming they take them over.
JENNIFER’S TAKEAWAYS:
Intro (00:00)
Use The Calm Technique (3:34)
Little Gladiator (8:06)
Balance Your Response With Connection (13:13)
Meet Jennifer Kolari
Jennifer Kolari is the host of the “Connected Parenting” weekly podcast and the co-host of “The Mental Health Comedy” podcast. Kolari is a frequent guest on Nationwide morning shows and podcasts in th US and Canada. Her advice can also be found in many Canadian and US magazines such as; Today’s Parent, Parents Magazine and Canadian Family.
Kolari’s powerful parenting model is based on the neurobiology of love, teaching parents how to use compassion and empathy as powerful medicine to transform challenging behavior and build children’s emotional resilience and emotional shock absorbers.
Jennifer’s wisdom, quick wit and down to earth style help parents navigate modern-day parenting problems, offering real-life examples as well as practical and effective tools and strategies.
Her highly entertaining, inspiring workshops are shared with warmth and humour, making her a crowd-pleasing speaker with schools, medical professionals, corporations and agencies throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
One of the nation’s leading parenting experts, Jennifer Kolari, is a highly sought- after international speaker and the founder of Connected Parenting. A child and family therapist with a busy practice based in San Diego and Toronto, Kolari is also the author of Connected Parenting: How to Raise A Great Kid (Penguin Group USA and Penguin Canada, 2009) and You’re Ruining My Life! (But Not Really): Surviving the Teenage Years with Connected Parenting (Penguin Canada, 2011).
