family: Don't remind your little brother or your parents that they ALWAYS do something negative. Stick to this one time.
family: Parents can go on and on and on. Listen politely and maintain eye contact. Then talk respectfully when it is your turn. If they interrupt, remind them that you listened when they were talking.
family: Parents get frustrated by never having enough time. They also worry that they are being bad parents and messing up your life. They worry that you don't love them. Be gentle with them. Try to understand that lots of times their anger is just an expression of these fears.
family: Own up to your part in the disagreement or misunderstanding. Say, "I admit that I . Then DO NOT say "but." Instead say something like, ". and what I don't understand is." or "what confuses me is." Your parents will think you are SO mature. They might even listen to you!
family: Nothing makes parents stop believing you forever like lying, even just a few times. It's REALLY hard to get their trust back. Lie a few more times and they won't even want to listen to what you have to say. It simply isn't worth it. They'll get over you messing up far easier than they will you lying.
family: This one is really important when it comes to smaller brothers and sisters. It's not fair to take advantage of their age and size. It's also not worth losing their trust. Your parents won't be too thrilled when they find out either, and they always seem to find out eventually. Don't try to scare your parents with threats of running away or hurting yourself or anything that you don't really mean. You could end up grounded for life! What good would that do?
family: This means no poking fingers into a parent's chest AND no throwing or breaking things either. Stomp your feet or scream if you need to get anger out. Just warn the other person first. Say, "I just need to let off steam for a second so I can get calm enough to talk." Agree ahead of time on acceptable ways of doing this in your home.
family: Little brothers and sisters get REALLY hurt by what their older siblings says. Sometimes they remember those words for a long time. Worse still, they believe what you say even if you didn't really mean it and only said it because you were angry. Watch your mouth!
family: You did what you did. They know it. You know it. You are allowed to say why you did it. You are not allowed to say why it was okay when you know it wasn't. That's the difference between an excuse and an explanation.
family: Ask your parents for permission to take a 5-minute break. Assure them that you aren't trying to get out of anything, you just want to calm down.
family: Even if your parents get busy and forget about a promise you made, keep it. They'll remember sooner or later. Besides, this is your chance to prove that they can trust you.