Treat your child with love and respect and expect the same back from them.

Successful parenting means you should enjoy being with your own child. Time spent with your child should not always be stressful and full of arguments. Teaching a child to communicate with respect for both you in the parenting role and others they come in contact with on a day to day basis makes time spent with the child more enjoyable for everyone.

You will no doubt have some tough times. There will be times when they challenge your authority and there will be times when they don't agree with your decision making. But the majority of the time should be quality time.

The process starts with you in the parenting role. You need to be a good role model for your child. If you treat them with love and respect, then they’ll be willing to give it back to you. If you're always yelling at your children and criticizing their behavior, you will get yelling and criticizing back.

Negative energy feeds off of negative energy. As soon as things get tense and start to heat up, it’s hard to put the fire out because human nature is to get defensive, even in children.You need to be willing to talk to your child and explain unwanted behavior. Since you are the adult, you’re the one who has to remain calm and keep things at an even keel.

Believe me, I know that’s easier said then done. I was raised by a mother who was a yeller, so I naturally became a yeller when I took on the role of being a mother. It’s taken a lot of years of practice to get rid of that tool in my parenting box of techniques. Every once in awhile, it sneaks its way back into my box. When things get heated and the yelling starts, it’s hard to step out of the situation and take a breath, but as the adult, that’s exactly what you have to do. Don’t start shouting or calling names and don’t allow the child to do that to you. If your child does start shouting, you need to calmly let him know that kind of behavior will not be accepted.

To teach your child respectful behavior, they need to know that they are a person who is valued. They need to know they are an important part of your family whose opinions and thoughts count. They need to feel the respect coming from you.

That doesn’t mean they’re allowed to say what they want, when they want. It means there are times when you sit down as a family and carry on a conversation. Everyone should have a right to their opinion without being criticized or laughed at by anyone else in the family. Everyone should have times when they get to make the decisions for the family’s leisure time. Everyone should have time to share points of their day without interruption.

It’s important that children learn at a young age how to interact with others with respect and that interaction starts with their parents and siblings. Teach your children that if they want to communicate with you, it needs to be calmly and respectfully. Do not give into their demands if they were yelled or screamed to you. They also need to treat their siblings in the same manner. Siblings should be treated with more respect than the child's friends. If a child is disrespecting a sibling, then you need to step in and explain what is expected.

As you teach your child this mutual respect within your home, it is also teaching them respect for others they will be coming in contact with when they're outside your home.