Is the phrase, "I'm telling!" constantly repeated by your son or daughter?
Sometimes when kids say things, they’re really trying to convey something else.
This is often the case when your kids threaten other kids with the infamous line, “I’m telling!”
For Moms and Dads, this can be a frustrating situation because you don’t know which way is the best way to handle it…
Fortunately, George Scarlett, Ph.D., an assistant professor of child development at Tufts University, has worked with kids and studied their tendencies to yell, “I’m telling,” so that you can know the different meanings behind their assertion.
He’s discovered that there are 3 main types of tattling…
Here are the examples:
- Liam won’t share!
- I just saw Sam sneaking a cookie!
- Kate threw her bottle on the floor again.
Each of these types of “tattling” are slightly different and if your child says them to you, they’re probably trying to convey something deeper to you.
But if you don’t know what they’re really trying to tell you, you may be tempted to ignore your kids, get mad at them for being a tattle-tale, or fuel the fire of their tattling habits.
Click through to the full article to read the deeper meaning behind each of those versions of tattling, as well as some specific things that you can say back to your child when they come to you and “tell on” their siblings or friends.
3 Kinds of Tattling (And How To Deal) [Parenting]
