Are You Raising a Rude Child?

Have you ever been in a situation where children are misbehaving and taking advantage of their parents?

For example, kids that run around crazy at a restaurant or have a massive temper tantrum in a store. Do the parents just not know what to do?

Perhaps. After all, there's no real "owner's manual" when you have a kid.

But there are some of the commonsense basics involved in raising a child; ways to build your confidence for being able to say NO to your kids... knowing that you're smarter and more experienced than the little person that suddenly is controlling your life.

Richard Greenberg has had much experience with this, with four children of his own. He joins Andrea to share some of his insight on being a good parent and how you can raise kids that others actually like to be around.

One of the questions he answer is: Can anyone be a good parent?

Anyone who has the sense of responsibility to a community, who understands what it's like to live in society and who respects (to some degree) authority, can be a parent. There are some people who are so selfish that they cannot comprehend a position where there are many times there is something they don't want to do, but have to do for the betterment of their child. So, in all reality, there are likely some individuals out there who simply can't get that far outside themselves to make those important decisions.

What about kids who were raised by a parents who did their very best, but still didn't quite hit the mark? Can bad behaviors be unlearned?

While these behaviors will likely stick with these individuals to some degree, if you have a sensitivity to what's going on in society, you'll be able to overcome those challenges.

However, it can be a difficult row to hoe, especially when it comes to the workplace. If you're someone who has always been praised and told you can do great things, and suddenly you enter the workplace where you do mediocre work and you're told you do mediocre work, it can be a difficult adjustment. You'll either listen to that criticism and accept it, or you'll end up isolating yourself in the faux "I'm so great" cocoon. To be on a team, you need to understand how other people think and how they feel. That team mentality is also a big part of parenting.

How about gender differences? Do women parent differently than men?

Somebody has to be the bottom line, whether it's the man or the woman. In years past, the roles of men and women in regards to parenting were very clearly defined. But now, it really all comes down to who is going to be that bottom line. Men are often less emotional (or empathic), and can sometimes make more clear, more logical parenting decisions. This is not the end-all, be-all of parenting roles, mind you; but overall, that's still often the tradition in a family unit.

Richard also shares his SMART principles to simplify the parenting process.

S: Set an example; not only in your behavior, but in the way you go through life. Take a look at how YOU were parented and recognize how that may have an impact on your parenting skills.

M: Make the rules. Once you've taken a look at the examples you want to set, you can determine your values and the way you want your family to run. For example, one of the rules could be that your child makes his or her bed every day or is expected to help with the dishes.

A: Apply the rules. Understand that children really want you to be their leader. They want you to guide them. It makes their lives much easier and your life much easier as well. Having specific rules and expecting your children to follow them is not unreasonable.

R: Respect yourself. Don't let your child tell you to "shut up" or let them think they can bamboozle you, because they can't. You have years of life experience on them..

T: Teach in all things. Everything you do is teaching your kids something, which goes back to setting those good examples. Teach your kids to be calm by staying calm yourself.

Listen in for more parenting tips from Richard and how you can start implementing some of them today in your own family unit.