Sometimes we refer to 'extended adolescence' but perhaps 'extended toddlerhood' proceeds it. Thankfully some stages of childhood development are easier than others.
Five year olds can be a breath of fresh air. #Reasonable Unless they fall in love with technology. Their new super smart brains are ripe for all that temptation!
Even though many of us are far past this stage, I post this article by Janet Lansbury for the younger parents who might still identify with some of these truths along with the helpful suggestions to help mend some of these persistent issues. Because toddlerhood previews what early adolescence will look like, with the same resistance and need for some semblance of control.
Most toddlers don’t skip merrily along through this stage of development. It is in their right to push back and test us but it is also the template of how they will handle themselves in the future.
Many children trip up and struggle from this point on never adequately learning to manage their big emotions. The need for concentrated time and effort can be too readily minimized in our society as we tend to acquiesce to the preschool / daycare helpers. But believe me they are out-numbered and understaffed to adequately meet all the needs of these children. I spent 5 years in those classrooms. The more difficult the child the less of what they truly need will be offered. It is unrealistic to think otherwise and why parents need to go through the learning curve to figure out what best helps their individual child. My generation learned the hard way of that new-age digital pacifier and how it backfired big time. #NoShortCuts
From the article, "The problem for us: Testing limbo isn’t comfortable for parents either. If we don’t address testing behaviors calmly and directly, we can become increasingly irritated and exhausted, lose our cool and feel guilty, dislike parenting, even resent and lose affection for our child. Tests are requests, and when we don’t provide conclusive “answers” in our responses, we unwittingly provoke more testing."
Yep!
Still it can be an exhaustive endeavor! Our children have little to no responsibilities and have all that stored energy to go for the win. Unlike us who are seemingly carrying the world on our shoulders!
Must be kind to ourselves! Mental hugs are always in order!