As easy as 1,2,3

Well, sort of.

The little guy is incredibly strong willed. Especially when he's angry. Or hungry. Or both. Usually the two go hand in hand. And even though he has a snack at daycare right before we pick him up, he is often in a foul mood on the way home. This is usually about the time he becomes bossy, rude and whiney. None of the distraction techniques work. Food doesn't work either. No matter what we offer him, it is the "wrong" snack. Nothing we say or do helps. It just adds fuel to the fire. So how, after we've all had a long day, do we shift the negative to positive?

Quite simply, we count to three.

This is the same strategy we use to get him to cooperate when we ask him to get dressed in the morning. Or to get ready for bed. Or to pick up his toys. 95 per cent of the time, we never actually make it past two. Because he knows that if we actually get to three that he is going to lose some of his special privileges (i.e. watching a bit of television before bed).

We tried the counting method in the past, but it never really worked. But now, as he approaches his 5th birthday, it works like magic. The key was to just follow through a couple of times to let him know we mean business.

The amazing thing is that he actually likes it when we count to three. It helps him to regain control when he's having trouble focusing (i.e. getting dressed in the morning). Also, when he gets into a negative frame of mind, it helps to turn the tide so we can actually enjoy ourselves and do fun things. And, of course, he's getting a lot more positive feedback because he's more cooperative these days.

Yay for parenting strategies that work!