My younger son (age 2-1/2) started biting when he was just over two years old. He would bite when he and his older brother had sharing issues, or when he didn’t get his way. He would bite really hard. He could not assert himself against his older brother, who was three years older, more able
My older son, who was six, had been constantly on the edge for a few weeks. He let out his feelings by crying on weekends and then go back to school on Monday. His first grade teacher told us that he would take a long time on each school task, and sometimes couldn’t finish. I
My three-year-old was getting better at using the potty, but he would end up wetting his pants once in a while. One day, in a supermarket while trying to get grocery shopping done quickly, he started wiggling like he needed to go potty. I asked him to use the bathroom. He was very reluctant, acting like
My 2-1/2-year old son was tired. It was past his nap time. As I laid him down for his nap, he looked up at me very lovingly and said, “Can I have some of your milk, mommy?” His voice was tender and sweet. It had been about six months since I had breastfed him at
My 3-year old son and his slightly younger friend had a play date at our house. There was a bowl with a snack roll in it made of grains and fruit. Frank picked a muesli roll, as he was hungry. My son wanted to follow his lead and picked what happened to be the last
There was a five-year-old boy in my Kindergarten group who had been giving little signs of distress for a few days, showing that he was not relaxed. He threw a few toys, hit a few children and showed misbehavior at circle time. He didn’t throw hard or hit hard, but I could feel he did
My husband was putting my daughter to sleep at bedtime when she realized she had left her lovey, “Twinkle Bug,” at her girlfriend’s house after a sleepover. She started to freak out, screaming, “I cannot go to sleep without her! I will never be able to sleep without Twinkle Bug!” My husband responded by offering
Last fall my husband had to go out of town for a few days for work. The day after he left, my two year-old son and I were sitting in the living room on the couch when it seemed to dawn on him all of a sudden that his dad was gone. He said, “I
~ From Certified Instructor Julie Johnson One evening my two year-old son seemed grouchy and irritable. From the time that we arrived home from school, nothing was right. He was unhappy with his snack, dinner was not what he wanted, and he was frustrated with his toys. I decided to try some playlistening with him
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“Just Momma!” my daughter would cry. “Momma do it!” During the toddler and early pre-school years my daughter would cling to me for dear life when all I wanted to do was take a shower in peace. While this wasn’t an every day event, it was still enough that it limited both of us and
The past two afternoons have ended with me trying to cook dinner while my daughter, in tears, tells me I’m the meanest mom in the world and never, EVER, let her have what she wants.
Ever since Annie had been a little girl she’d had huge tantrums and long cries. Her mother was at the end of her rope. She didn’t understand why her daughter’s emotions were so big and she admittedly didn’t have a clue what to do.
My 3-year-old daughter had never been away from me for more than half a day, until I went to the Hand in Hand Parent Retreat this year. She stayed with her father in a hotel close by so I could spend the nights with them. But during the day I was away. My daughter did
A few weeks ago I noticed that every time I asked my almost six year old son, Gabriel, to do anything he said, “No.” Well, in actuality he said, “No way, José!” very loudly. Like any normal mother I hoped this behavior would change. I hoped some more. And still more. Days went by before
When my kids were about 16 months old and taking a bath, one of them pulled up the shower knob and doused them both with cold water. Both of them cried a long time. Several nights after this I went to give them a bath and my daughter willingly returned to the tub but my son would have
A few months ago I became a nanny for a 2 1/2 year old adopted Korean boy. I believe the parents adopted him when he was 17 months old. Prior to this time, he was in a foster home. I watched him about 4 or 5 times before becoming his nanny. From the very beginning,
“Hi, Hand in Hand Parenting, My almost 3 1/2 year old is having an especially hard time right now with family coming to visit. He has always had an extremely high need for connection. He still needs to sleep right next to me- not even his super involved attachment parenting dad will suffice. But he