Nobody likes a tattletale - not even their mother or father. If your child’s playdates and sleepovers are punctuated by whiney reports of misdeeds and injustice, you may be tempted to clear your kid’s social calendar. Not so fast. Interactions with siblings and friends allow kids to practice communication, negotiation and compromise. And dissatisfaction is part of the process.
We all have moods. In childhood, there are those unicorn, rainbow, cotton candy, smiley ones. And then there are the beastly ones. Meltdown mahem at a department store. Bedtime blow-ups. Tantrums over tuna. Adolescents are also famous for occasionally getting their panties in a bunch... ahem. Behind every spirited child in distress is a parent secretly wishing to be sedated.
A five-year-old stands, arms folded across her chest, in the centre of the living room. It’s 8:30pm and she’s been told that it’s time to turn the television off and get ready for bed. “You’re not the boss of me,” she responds indignantly.
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