Today I had snapped at my child. I was teaching him subtraction and he was not really concentrating and had kept getting it wrong. When I asked him, “Is 4 bigger than 7” and when he said yes, I chided him in an annoyed tone. He also retaliated. He responded negatively by throwing a tantrum. From then on, I felt my anger growing bigger and bigger, and fortunately, I had said things that were quite mean.
Why had I responded this way?
Firstly, I felt that he was not putting his heart to learn.
Secondly, to me, his response to my chiding felt like defiance.
But how should I have done it better?
I could engage with him earlier. It was 8.30pm already, and the kid was tired.
By teaching him in another creative way.
Start again tomorrow.