Toddlers and preschool-age children are forces of nature. Those tiny tyrants are full of love, life and wonder – but they’re also unyielding when they decide they don’t want to do something.
Thankfully though, there’s a hack (or four) for that.
A Reddit thread of parenting hacks has flagged some absolute gems which I will be using for the foreseeable future.
One parent shared their incredibly simple solution for getting their toddler to eat the snacks they want her to.
“If she asks for a snack and I offer her healthy options she will often refuse, ask for something like chocolate, and then get hangry when I don’t give her what she wants,” wrote user tomtink1.
“If I leave something like a banana at the edge of the kitchen counter earlier in the day she will steal it and eat it and everyone is happy.”
Another parent said they can get their toddler to (mostly) listen and do as they say by asking: ‘what if you did it silly?’
It’s an especially great way to diffuse potential battles when trying to leave the house.
“Yesterday trying to leave daycare with 1 degree temps outside, she was working up to a screaming ‘no!’ over putting on winter gear. I was this close to ‘do it or I’ll do it to you’ when instead I asked ‘what if you put it on silly?’,” said user anotherface95.
“Now mind, she’s 3…. So to her, the silliest she can get is she makes silly noises and wiggles a little. Snow gear – on! Tantrum – averted! Frostbite – thwarted! Power struggles – rescheduled!”
In the comments section, a parent said they use a similar tactic called ‘march, march!’ with their son.
“If he’s getting grumpy or distracted going anywhere I start chanting ‘march, march!’ and I will march to wherever we’re going,” said user pandito88.
“He always follows me with giggles and he tries to march his little leggies. Instantly snaps him out of grumpiness and redirects him where I want him to go.”
And if these don’t work for you, just call whatever you want them to do ‘a project’ – a particularly useful strategy for getting them to help tidy up at the end of the day. (I tried it last night and can confirm, it does work.)
“Mine is to call everything a ‘project’ so my three year old will help or at least tag along happily,” said user Typical-Dog244.
“Folding laundry? Project. Weeding? Project. Making me a coffee? Project. The girl can’t resist.”
