A Tip for Talking to Toddlers

This may be obvious to some, but I kind of just figured it out, and it has helped me be a lot less stressed, as well as my 3 year old. I felt like I was constantly commanding and demanding everything of her, and it was getting old, and she was "testing" how defiant she could be, and running out my patience, and it's just not a nice way to talk to people in general to boot.So instead of *telling* them what to do, I've started telling her what *needs to be done*. So instead of "Ok, put your shoes on," it becomes "Alright, you need your shoes on before we can go to the park." Or even just stating what the problem is - ("Oops, looks like your shoes still aren't on") - at least gives them the opportunity to "solve" the problem themselves, instead of just being told what to do all the time.Changing things to a "passive voice" as often as possible is helpful. Instead of "Get out of the tub," it can be "Bath time is over," or "It's time to dry off." Those sentences don't address her specifically but she gets the point. Remove her from the sentence as much as possible.You can phrase things as a problem that you're asking their help how to solve, too. "This dish is dirty - what should we do with it?" They like solving problems and feeling helpful and smart. It may take a little creative thinking on your part (it's certainly much easier to just say "can you put your dirty dish in the sink?"), but I think this way is better. If I can just remember to do it, lol.Of course I'm sure she'll outgrow this by age 5 or whatever and I'll have to learn new tricks all over again. But for now she's 3 (almost 4) and this approach has helped. I hope this helps someone!! via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/30wRPiP