logoalt Hacker News

jonathanlydallyesterday at 12:15 PM2 repliesview on HN

Depends on the kid and their age.

Me to my 3.5-year-old boy after evening bath (winter here right now): Your feet are going to get cold, don't you want to put on your slippers to keep them warm?

Him: No!

And if I put them on he'll take them off as soon as I'm not stopping him from doing so.

For putting on warm enough jacket for school I try similar reasoning which has yet to work with any kind of consistency, still mostly lands up having a bit of a tantrum all the way until I hand him over to his teacher.

His two-year older sister was a lot less difficult at his age.


Replies

vidarhyesterday at 6:04 PM

Sometimes you just need to let them experience that you are right first, as long they're just making themselves miserable for a bit.

Also, it works wonders to let them make a choice between two acceptable solutions instead of giving them space to say no.

"Do you want the slippers or the thick socks?"

It doesn't always work, but kids that age are learning to set boundaries, and giving them the illusion of agency often helps.

butlikeyesterday at 1:46 PM

"If you don't put on your slippers, your toes will fall off and then you won't be able to walk like everybody else!"

Sometimes the old-world spook stories work.

show 1 reply