Two-year-olds are full-on.
It might, in child-rearing perspective, be the most full-on age there is – as in; they just don’t stop – ever. Two-year-olds literally come with two settings – ON or asleep.
And when they are on, boy are they ON.
Toddlers want to run and climb and jump and shout. They want to touch and taste and investigate everything around them, even when it isn’t safe, respectful, or healthy to do so. And let’s face it – their impulsive nature also makes delayed gratification very difficult.
However, when it comes to helping your toddler decode the world and stay safe – whiles still being able to do the things that two-year-olds do, there is one trick we should be keeping up our collective sleeves, apparently.
How, you ask? By saying ‘yes’ more.
No really – think about it: How often do you restrict your child’s activities or behaviors because they are unreasonable, irritating or disruptive? If you’re not sure, get a piece of paper and make a checkmark every time your response is “No.” If the checkmarks seem excessive by the end of the day, you may apparently want to evaluate how you can say “Yes” instead.
According to the book Toddler Discipline for Every Age and Stage: Effective Strategies to Tame Tantrums, Overcome Challenges, and Help Your Child Grow, many times, you may be able to provide a positive alternative by creating a new opportunity for action or redirecting to a different activity altogether.
For example, if your child grabs a fragile object and bangs it on the floor, instead of saying, “No,” affirm your child’s need for exercising the arm muscles, saying, “Banging is fun. Yes, you may bang. Let’s find something that isn’t breakable.”
The idea is, by saying “yes” as often as possible, even to the things that are mildly irritating, our children will learn to trust that we are looking out for their best interests when we do set those limits.
