Episode 35: Avoiding the Melting Point
Engaging, challenging, and empowering parents in raising well-rounded children through combining educational research to everyday life.
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on today’s episode…
What’s the melting point, you ask? It’s a term Dr. Cagle created to define the breaking point or the threshold of disaster. And, it can be applied to every area of life and to people of all ages. Come hear Dr. Cagle’s #1 strategy to avoid the melting point with your kiddos!
insights
What’s the melting point?
It’s a term I created to define the breaking point or the threshold of disaster. This can be applied to every area of life and to people of all ages.
Here are some scenarios:
Your children are peacefully playing then all of a sudden they start punching each other
Your spouse makes one tiny comment to you, and you explode
Your child is doing homework and starts bursting into tears 5 minutes later.
In all these scenarios, it’s extremely likely that there were additional “things” that lead to the melting point.
You probably even hear or say things like, “woahhhh what happened?” to reach that point so quickly.
What do you notice about yourself when you reach this melting point? Generally, you’re frustrated at something else (i.e., co-worker, issue at work, whiny kids, family issues, pile of laundry/dishes, etc) or you’re just hangry or tired.
Challenge: use that same lens to see your kids.
Could they be frustrated with something that happened at school?
Could they be struggling to grasp the content being taught, even if they always thrive in the subject area?
Could they be hangry?
Could they be tired? Remember that sleep isn’t the only way to rest…
Apply this lens!
Debrief with them how their school day went.
Brought home a bad grade? Debrief that grade. Ask questions.
Have a snack for them when you pick them up from school.
Learn to “read” them about when they need rest.
Maybe they don’t do their homework the moment they get home from school. Maybe they don’t go straight to their phone or video game the moment they get home.
Maybe they play with their siblings first. Maybe they go on a bike ride or shoot some hoops first. Maybe they play with the neighborhood kids for 30 minutes first.
Reminder: respond vs react.
This strategy will minimize the homework frustrations and sibling rivalry! Simply because every single person (even kids!) have unique needs.
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