▪︎"If you don't give me a kiss I'm leaving".
▪︎"If you don't obey me I'm going to be sad."
▪︎"If you don't give me a hug I don't love you anymore."
👉 It is incredible how many times we adults resort to emotional blackmail to get children to do what WE want without taking into account what THEY want.
👉If a child doesn't want to give us a kiss, that's their absolute right. Playing on their kindness and their need for affection and acceptance to get to go against their will is creeping and harmful
👉They have to know that they can say NO, and that NO IS NO, that no one can force them to show or receive affection if they don't want to.
👉And the grandfather, the grandmother, the aunt, the neighbor, the great-uncle that they only see for Christmas can get angry.... that is the adult's problem and not the children's.
👉Let them know that blackmail is not allowed in your house. And it's not wrong for us adults to learn what's not right.