8 Signs Others May Think Your Kid is a Brat

As a parent, there’s nothing better than receiving a compliment about how wonderful your child is. Parenting isn’t easy and we work hard to ensure our children are loved, disciplined, and well-adjusted. However, even if we think our child is doing fine, there are some signs that their behavior isn’t as wonderful as we thought. 

Despite our best efforts as parents, teaching our kids how to behave properly can be challenging, especially when it’s easy to give in to what they want. While no parent always gets things right, permissive parenting is often the cause of a spoiled or ungrateful child.

Permissive parenting is a parenting style that focuses on loving a child but often lacks clear boundaries and discipline. Even with the best intentions, this type of parenting can lead to some pretty poor behavior. If your child often acts selfishly and doesn’t think they have to follow the rules, other parents have probably picked up on that as well. Here are 8 signs others may think your kid is a brat.

One of the first signs that other parents and adults think your kid is a brat is how your child treats their peers. With toddlers, hitting or kicking is common as they’re learning how to express their emotions. However, if your older child is constantly mistreating other kids, this is a sign that something else is going on.

How your child treats other children, whether they’re in school or on the playground, can say a lot about what your child is allowed to do at home. If they’re usually allowed to use physical actions, such as kicking or hitting, to get what they want, they’re likely to do this with other kids as well.

Tantrums are another behavior that is common with toddlers, but most kids grow out of them by four years old. If your child is constantly throwing a tantrum over everything, this might mean that tantrums are the way they get what they want at home.

Some children may throw tantrums more frequently than other children, especially if they’re dealing with a sensory or emotional issue. However, most children shouldn’t be throwing tantrums at five or six years old to get what they want.

Children are notorious for whining, especially when they’re bored or when you ask them to do something they don’t want to do. It’s also something that many children grow out of (although it may appear again during the pre-teen and teenage years.)

There is a difference between occasional whining and a child whining and complaining about everything. Gratitude isn’t always easy for children to learn but it’s an important thing for them to understand. If your child whines or complains about every single thing, it may be time to talk about gratitude and help them appreciate what you give them.

How your child treats other adults is a pretty good indication of how you allow them to treat you at home. A child being disrespectful or thinking they can act a certain way towards other parents, teachers, or any other adult shows that it’s something they can usually get away with.

Even when they don’t get their way, every child needs to know how to show respect to those who are in charge, whether they’re showing respect to their grandparents or their teacher.

One of the things kids learn when they’re starting to talk is how to ask for what they want. They may not always do it in the most polite way at first, but even toddlers will quickly learn what works and what doesn’t. If your child demands the thing they want instead of asking, this may be a sign your child is spoiled.

At a young age, it’s important to teach children manners, and even though it can take toddlers a long time to say “please” and “thank you” when requesting something, we shouldn’t give in when a child says “gimme” or demands something in another way instead of asking.

All children aren’t going to get along and that’s okay. Your child should be polite and kind to other children but they’re not necessarily going to be best friends with every child on the playground or even in their class.

However, if you start to notice a common theme that other kids, even the children of your friends or relatives, don’t want to play with your child, it may be time to evaluate if something else is going on. It’s difficult for most parents to deal with their kids feeling left out. Our first reaction as parents is often to think that other kids are just being mean to them. But sometimes, it could be because of how your child is acting.

Even adults don’t like to hear the word no when they ask for something, but children quickly learn who’s in charge and that when their parent or other adult says no, they have to listen. If your child refuses to take no for an answer, it might be because you're reluctant to tell them no.

As parents, we want to give our children the world, but it’s also important for them to learn that they can’t have everything they want and that the world doesn’t revolve around them. There’s nothing wrong with telling our child no and setting clear boundaries is one way they learn how to react when they don’t get what they want.

There’s no doubt that being a parent can be all-consuming. Whether you’re a working parent or a stay-at-home parent, you don’t get days off from being a parent, but that doesn’t mean your child should be the one running your life.

Other parents will understand when you make plans around your child’s naptime when they’re an infant or toddler. However, when your older child is the one who decides what happens and when, it may be time to pump the breaks and set some clear boundaries with your child.