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in the Overland Park - Johnson County, Kansas  area including Olathe, Lenexa, Leawood, Shawnee and Kansas City Kansas;
and in the Kansas City, Missouri area including Independence, Blue Springs, and Lee's Summit.
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Kids Inc
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Find answers to questions already asked.  Click on a question below to see
the complete question and answer given by a Kids Inc. professional.





  • I have a 5 year old son that is completely out of control. He will find
    markers and write all over our hardwood floors, and he is always hitting his
    older sisters and using bad language. Then he just runs off laughing like
    he thinks that it is funny. He will not listen to me at all. What can I do?

    ANSWER— provided by Jim Haley, MA, LMHP
    Your son sounds like his behavior can be overwhelming, and it's good that
    you are planning to address this now rather than later. Some of these
    behaviors occur more commonly in younger children during their "terrible
    twos", and can be effectively addressed by clear, firm consequences and
    consistency. It may be important to begin by speculating about the
    purpose of his behavior: is he seeking attention? just trying to have fun? is
    he angry at or "getting even" with his sisters?

    A good place to start looking is at the expectations you set and how
    consistently you enforce limits. Do you clearly explain when and where he
    can color? Is he required to ask permission before getting his crayons or
    markers? How closely do you monitor his behavior and compliance? When
    he breaks the rules, what happens? Do you give warnings? How often do
    you "let it slide" versus administer a consequence? Is the consequence a
    deterrent, or only a nuisance? Does it have meaning for the child? Keep in
    mind that you are trying to teach your child to connect cause and effect: "If
    I do ____, then ____ will happen."

    Many parents struggle to set and enforce limits because they are afraid of
    "going too far" and causing resentment in their child that persists
    indefinitely. Others focus so much on consequences that they have
    difficulty balancing limit-setting and teaching with nurturing and caring. A
    major challenge of parenting is finding a good balance between these
    extremes. It may be helpful to attend courses such as "Love and Logic" or
    "Common Sense Parenting", in order to get new ideas or plan a response.
    You may also prefer to work 1:1 with a professional counselor to bolster
    strengths and remediate weaknesses in your current parenting skills.
Parenting Questions & Answers