How to Get Your Child to Behave without Becoming the Parent You Hate

The Doctors are joined by family physician, parenting expert and author Dr. Deborah Gilboa to tackle some of your biggest parenting complaints and questions.

How do you handle a lazy child?: Dr. Gilboa tells us this is a common complaint from parents. She says it is key to start at a young age in order to instill responsibility in kids and says that you can have a child as young as 18 months help out around the house. Dr. Gilboa's own children help with things like laundry, meals, and dishes.

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How do I handle my child calling me the "meanest mom ever"?: She says she feels good parenting is not measured by feeling like you are your child's friend and that parents should not feel like their child has to be happy all of the time. "The metric of good parenting is, 'Are my kids growing? Are they learning?' Nobody grows when they are comfortable. Nobody learns when it everything is super easy and we're making them happy all of the time." she shares. She goes on to say the goal is to give kids the skills in order to be happy as adults and then be friends with them when they are grown, not now. When it comes to discipline, Dr. Gilboa says that consequences for bad behavior are important, but also encourages a reconciliation between the parent and the child after.

How do I handle the bedtime battle?: "There is one answer to this and it's routine," Dr. Gilboa says. "They need to know what to expect." She says making the routine the same every single night can be very helpful.

Watch: Can Teaching Girls to Be Nice Backfire?

Find out more parenting tips from Dr. Gilboa, here.