Posts Tagged "crying"

Create Shopping Cooperation

Create Shopping Cooperation

What do you do when your child wants everything in the store? Instead of trying to reign in their wants, check your boundaries (physical, social or personal). It's OK to buy only what you can or want to buy, and validate the rest with wishes.  An odd thing happens with wishes. When you explore the details of children's wishes—what they love about it, what they might imagine they could...

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“Mommy, why are you crying?”

“Mommy, why are you crying?”

When it comes to expressing emotions in front of your child, how much is too much? Recently, a parent asked about expressing strong emotions like sadness or anger. She's going through a rough time in her life, and was worried that she was crying in front of her child too often. She is also arguing with her husband a lot, and she wondered if I thought parents should limit those kinds of...

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I want it! You’re not my friend anymore!

I want it! You’re not my friend anymore!

Do these situations sound familiar? At an in-service training I did for preschool teachers, I was asked a few questions about children fighting. These could come up at home or at school, so I wanted to share them with you. Although these sample responses were designed for younger children, they actually apply to older children as well. That's no surprise when you remember that the Language of...

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Why I Let Kids Cry

Why I Let Kids Cry

When you hear a child crying, what is your first reaction? If it's a child you know, you might have an impulse to rush to their aid and fix the problem for them ASAP. If you can't do that, you may feel the need to do something to at least distract them or cheer them up. If you follow our blog or have taken our classes, you have probably heard about our technique for facilitating tantrums. In a...

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Whining: Can You Be Helpless?

Whining: Can You Be Helpless?

It's easy to smile and say, "Sure!" when a child asks you for help pleasantly. But what about when the child whines and says "I can't"? If that puts you on edge, this article is for you. What stops us from helping children who are acting helpless is the belief that by providing help we will be affirming that they need it. But if we withhold assistance and try to push them into...

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