Answer:Understanding your child’s experience and, in this case, with the baby, no matter what the situation is, sharing with your child when these things aren’t going on, they’re not having this behavior or these feelings aren’t showing right then when times are good together, saying, “Wow, you’ve started this new school and that’s tough.” Or, “You have a baby sister and that must be hard to accept that now I have to pay attention to your sister, and there’s so much I have to do with the baby and it must be very hard for you to feel this change that’s happened in our family, and it might make you very worried sometimes, or very sad or afraid that maybe we feel differently about you. All of those things are normal to feel.”
So, giving your child that message, knowing that it’s going to go in and they’re going to on some level be relieved, I’m not crazy. My behavior is expected and my behavior is normal, my behavior is okay with my parents. Not that they’re going to let me act on it, but that they’re not thinking I’m bad person for doing it. They’re not outraged. That’s a very comforting message that will prevent these kinds of hello behaviors from happening.
Explanation:Transcript of “Dealing With Mischief After The Fact”