QUESTION: Recently my son has been getting really worked up and upset about going into preschool, after some inconsistent attendance due to chicken pox and holidays etc. I feel really bad making him go when he is so upset about it. I have tried to talk it through with him to see what the issues are but it just seems to be that he would rather hang out with me and his brother for the day.  He calms down as soon as he can’t see me anymore and he is always very happy when I pick him up, but at drop off has to basically be pulled off me. Any advice appreciated!

    Toddlers are notorious for not sharing. they hold on tight to their toys and easily have a fit if someone wants what they're playing with, even if they haven’t set eyes on it for weeks. It’s how we teach them that makes all the difference.  

    My husband and I used to joke that the background noise of our life was my daughter’s whining. The toddler years for me were no easy feat. And I knew deep down there had to be another way. With all my years in teaching and my degree in primary education, Nothing prepared me for my toddler’s antics.

  I get it!  Parenting is hard work, sometimes it is a struggle just to make it through the day. Threats are easy, they roll off the tongue so quickly and to begin with, we might even think that they work.  However, the positive results we get from threatening our children with consequences are mostly short term. If you take a deep breath and step back, you can become aware that our own behaviour and reactive tools we use actually have a negative effect in the medium to long-term and makes parenting a whole lot more stressful than it needs to be.