Why Conflicts are Sometimes Just the Tip of the Iceberg…

Sometimes conflict with our kids can seem to arise out of nowhere. Or, a conversation that seemed to be over something relatively minor can explode with little warning into a full-fledged battle.

Why does this happen?

A lot of the time, it’s because of emotions under the surface.

Watch the video below to hear about the time I discovered an iceberg of emotions in the middle of a conflict with my daughter, Bethany.

As I say in the video, there’s ALWAYS stuff under the surface. To do the best job we can of bringing grace and empathy to our interactions with our kids is to remember to turn on our “iceberg detectors.” When things start to get heated, or even before you begin, take a deep breath and ask yourself, “What might be going on under the surface right now, for myself and for my child?”

Once you can identify your own iceberg, you can be a safer parent for your children and begin to help them learn to identify and express their own under-the-surface emotions.

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