Are you struggling with the behavior of one or more of your children? Trust me – I’ve been there. You could be dealing with extreme behavior problems or the day-to-day challenges that normal kids provide due to the fact that they are human and…well…kids. No matter what your situation, I want to provide you with this behavior problems check list so you can get down to the root of the problem.
I never like to use these root issues as an excuse. The fact about life is that we need to learn to have self-control and behave well despite our circumstances. Once a month I could use my woman issues to absolutely unleash on my family. There is no doubt it changes how I feel and how I want to respond. Sometimes I let it overcome me. However, the better option is when I choose to fight against the temptation to be a nightmare. Part of raising kids is helping them to learn to respond well, even if our ideal conditions are off. That said, it’s always good to be preventative and try and fix the internal and external stimulus that might be impacting behavior.
Children do not leave your womb perfect. They are born into a sinful world, and they are going to bring into that world their own struggles and personality quirks. Of course they will bring in amazing talents, thoughts, uniqueness and gifts that you will delight in discovering. The challenging parts might not necessarily be what we look forward to dealing with. However, it’s part of the job. We also get to learn to embrace the verse that says, “We should rejoice in our suffering knowing that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. Now this hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” – Romans 5:3-5. Our kids our being used to refine us as we refine them. It can be a painful but beautiful process. Part of parenting through the challenges is to discover what environmental factors might be setting our kids off into a negative behavior pattern. The checklist provided today equips you with questions you can ask yourself so that you can help set up your child for success.
Behavior Problems Checklist
- Has my child eaten enough today? Am I providing a variety of healthy food options?
- Has my child had enough sleep?
- Has my child had enough water? (See reader comments)
- Has my child had enough active play today?
- Is my marriage doing OK?
- Is my child physically and mentally safe?
- Am I providing consistency and structure?
- Are there major changes in our lives that need to be discussed or worked through?
- Am I allowing too much screen time? Read the truth about TV time here.
- Is my child’s body functioning properly? Read about one parenting decision that changed my daughter’s life.
- Do I need outside help like a behavioral specialist because the problems are too big?
- Am I too distracted?
- Does my child have sensory needs?
- Do my kids know what to expect?
- Am I modeling the behavior I want?
- Am I spoiling my child?
- Are we too busy?
I turned this into a free printable for you if you want to set a reminder on your refrigerator or bulletin board.
Behavior Problem Checklist Printable 
If you have evaluated these areas and one or more is off, fix it. It is our job, as parents, to set up our children to prosper. I’m not saying it is easy, and I’m not promising that if all these things are in line there won’t still be issues. However, we are our child’s best advocate and want to provide the best environment so they can thrive.
As a mom who has struggled with behavior issues, I want to encourage you to stick with it. You are doing a great job. You are here seeking resources. Thank you for being here, and I hope you continue join me on this journey of parenting.
More Parenting Resources
I have a variety of “works for me” parenting tips that I’d like to provide. You can check out my parenting tab, but I will also provide links to a few of my favorite tips and tricks here:
- Teaching Kids to Obey
- How to Stop the Whining and Crying
- Reward and Consequence Behavior Chart
- The Day I Had to Tomato Stake My Children
- Speaking Truth into Emotionally Intense Children
- I Have Everything I Ever Wanted. Why am I so Unhappy?
- There’s an Attitude Problem in our House
- Consequences that Make Sense
- Your Kid is a Brat
I would also ask “has my child had enough water today?” The pathologist we take our daughtEric to has told us chronic dehydration is often at the heart of a lot of behavioral issues Because without enough actual water our bodies on a cellular level cannot function properly and in turn mental capacities start failing and coping skills drop. I know it makes a huge difference with our kids.
My husband would love this question. Water is the solution to everything in his opinion. Great information. I’ll add it to my post. Thanks so much for commenting. It’s great to keep in mind for my own kids.