How to curb your daughter’s people-pleasing behavior

Traditionally women have been taught to not show anger, to be complacent, to hold in their negative emotions. History has also shown us that those behaviors are not a healthy practice for anyone. But, many young women still display these kinds of behaviors. They want to be people-pleasers. They don’t want to make people angry or be the source of any negativity. 

It Is Ok To Stand Up For Yourself

As parents, we want to teach our daughters that it is ok to stand up for themselves. We want to end these people-pleasing behaviors. We want to teach our children that emotions are ok and to not hide them. So how can we curb this behavior?

Show by example. Demonstrate to your child that it is ok to be mad. As a parent, you can be mad without hurting the relationship. You can have a good quality relationship but still show anger. Show your daughter that arguments happen, that sometimes you get angry with your spouse, friends, and her. 

What Really Matters Is How You Repair

Then, show her what really matters is how you repair those arguments. How do you reconcile? When you get into a disagreement with your child show them the healthy ways to repair those mistakes. Talk to your daughter about it, explain the problem, be open with your emotions and your anger and then talk about how things can be done differently next time. 

Lessons For Everyone

These are important lessons as parents. They are difficult ones to teach because we don’t ever want to be the source of anger for our children and we don’t want to yell but we also have to be realistic. We hold the very important role of teaching our children life skills. The examples we set are the things that stick with them in tight moments and throughout their lives.