John's Articles
Cure for Kid Who Hits
Posted on 10/26/2021
A 4-year-old – I’ll call him Popeye – had a habit of hitting other children in his preschool program. His teachers tried various approaches, including rewarding him with a treat on days when he...
Read MoreHere's a Real Head Banger Issue
Posted on 7/14/2020
Q: When my two-year-old gets angry, he sometimes gets down and bangs his head on the floor. This happens two or three times a week, generally speaking. He’s not bruised himself, yet, but I don’t...
Read MoreWhat to Do About an Aggressive 3-Year-Old
Posted on 4/21/2020
Q: My three-year-old son tends to react physically when he's mad at a preschool classmate instead of talking it out and letting the teachers intervene. We have encouraged him to use words when...
Read MorePlaying War Games Not Unusual for Young Boys
Posted on 10/22/2019
Q: My normally happy 6-year-old son has recently started incorporating death and war-like games into his imaginative play. He isn't and has never been a mean-spirited child, but his dad and I just...
Read MoreCustody Issue: Teen Acts Aggressively Towards Mother
Posted on 1/12/2016
Q: My ex-husband and I have pretty much fifty-fifty custody of our 15-year-old son, who has become infected with his father’s disrespect for me. When he’s with me, he makes it very clear that he...
Read MoreJealous Sibling and Words of Wisdom for Toddler's Parents
Posted on 6/23/2015
Living with Children John Rosemond Copyright 2015, John K. Rosemond Q: My 24-month-old is constantly wanting to be in her newborn baby brother’s face, poking and touching him. How can...
Read MoreRoadblocks to Success in Classroom Discipline
Posted on 10/14/2014
A first-grade teacher asks what she can do about a girl in her class who is completely undisciplined. After nearly two months of this teacher’s best efforts, the child’s behavior is no better. She...
Read MoreDefiant behavior at school
Posted on 5/13/2014
Q: For the past few months, our usually compliant 4-year-old son has been having problems with defiant behavior at school. He often refuses to do what he is told by the teacher. What concerns us...
Read MoreExplaining School Shootings
Posted on 10/29/2013
A radio talk show recently called to ask how parents should explain school shootings to their kids. My answer: It depends. I prefer, for the most part, for parents to say nothing unless their...
Read MoreKicking Out of the Garden of Eden [Explained]
Posted on 10/6/2013
Kicking the child out of the Garden of Eden John's "Garden of Eden" statement: Other Q and A or articles about this method may be searched by using the keyword "Garden" Below is detailed...
Read MoreYelling - Not Good for Parent or Child
Posted on 7/16/2013
"I'm a yeller," she said, she being the mother of three young children. "No," I replied, "you're not. There is no genetic predisposition toward yelling, and no biochemical or...
Read More7 year old twins fighting
Posted on 1/8/2013
Q: How can we help our 7-year-old twin girls stop fighting? They constantly provoke and antagonize each other. We thought this was just normal sibling conflict, but it seems to be developing into...
Read MoreBoys goofing around
Posted on 1/1/2013
Q: Our son is in Kindergarten at a small private school. Most of the children in his class are boys. From the beginning, he's been somewhat of a behavior problem. Each time we get a notice from...
Read MoreOne Year Old Slapping Parents and Screaming
Posted on 11/8/2011
Punishment may fail with toddlers, but try a firm 'no' Q: My 1-year-old has started slapping us. He also screams a lot, often for no reason, or at least we can't figure out the reason. He won't...
Read More3-Year-Old Girl Biting Brother
Posted on 8/30/2011
What to do when a toddler bites a sibling Q. Our 36-month-old daughter has started biting her 22-month-old brother, usually over toys. My husband says I should put her in her room until he gets...
Read More6-Year-Old Boys Being Rambunctious
Posted on 7/26/2011
Q. I have 6-year-old twin boys who tend to get rambunctious when playing with other boys. How can I teach them to control their behavior when around other 'wild' kids? Recently, one of my boys and...
Read MoreWild Boys
Posted on 7/25/2011
Q: I have 6-year-old twin boys who tend to get rambunctious when playing with other boys. How can I teach them to control their behavior when around other 'wild' kids? Recently, one of my boys...
Read More32-Month-Old Girl Hits, Screams and Throws Things
Posted on 4/26/2011
Brother's response to surly sister stokes more outbursts Q: Our 7-year-old son and 32-month-old daughter squabble with each other constantly, mostly over taking and playing with each other's...
Read MoreKids Hitting Parents
Posted on 2/22/2011
A hidden abuse problem: Kids who assault parents One of the more heartbreaking consequences of the "psychological" parenting philosophy and style that American parents began adopting in the...
Read More2-Year-Old Boy Throws Items at Others
Posted on 7/27/2010
Got a 2-year-old who throws? Give him the gate Q. Our son is a month from being 2. We're concerned about his throwing. During a recent dinner out, he threw a fork that whizzed by a lady's head,...
Read More4-Year-Old Boy Hitting Others at Preschool
Posted on 11/18/2008
KIDS WHO HURT OTHERS NEED TO BE STOPPED Q. Our 4-year-old son is hitting others at preschool and has to spend the afternoon in his room for this. In soccer, he's pushing kids down and tripping...
Read More3-Year-Old Boy is Rough with 10-Month-Old Baby
Posted on 1/29/2008
Separate 3-year-old from baby Q. Our 3-year-old son is very tall and strong for his age. When he tries to "play" with his 10-month-old sister, he often ends up on top of her, putting her in a...
Read More6-Year-Old Boy Throwing Wild Tantrums
Posted on 10/30/2007
ARE BRAIN CHEMICALS TO BLAME FOR 6-YEAR-OLD'S BAD BEHAVIOR? Recently the parents of a 6-year-old boy asked my advice concerning his daily, sometimes violent tantrums which had been ongoing...
Read More5-Year-Old Girl Throwing Tantrums
Posted on 8/7/2007
SENSE OF HUMOR IS ESSENTIAL FOR HANDLING REBELLIOUS CHILD Q. Our middle child, 5, is aggressive, loud and disrespectful when anyone dares to deny her or make her do something she doesn't...
Read MoreAggressvie Children
Posted on 4/24/2007
STOP AGGRESSION WITH SIR METHOD Last week I promised to provide a tried-and-true solution to a problem that is increasing in both frequency and magnitude: children who are aggressive toward...
Read MoreCannot Talk an Aggressive Child out of Misbehaving
Posted on 4/17/2007
YADA-YADA DISCIPLINE DOESN'T WORK WITH AGGRESSIVE CHILDREN In a recent article on co-sleeping - the peculiar practice of sleeping with one's child or children to facilitate "bonding" - I made...
Read More4-Year-Old Agressive toward Younger Sibling
Posted on 1/24/2006
PARENT NEEDS TO ACT DECISIVELY TO END OLDER BROTHER'S ATTACKS Q: My 4-year-old is very aggressive toward his 30-month-old brother. I don't think he's completely to blame for their conflicts,...
Read MoreAgressive 3-Year-Old
Posted on 12/6/2005
AGGRESSIVE 3-YEAR-OLD LEAVES OLDER PAL IN TEARS Q: Our 5-year-old daughter and our next-door-neighbor's 3-year-old daughter play together a good amount of time. The problem is that their child...
Read MoreBoys' Gun Games Usually Harmless
Posted on 11/29/2005
BOYS' GUN GAMES USUALLY HARMLESS Q: A while back, the boys from next door (ages 6 and 8) began inviting my 5-year-old son to play good guys/bad guys and "war" with them. Initially the games...
Read MoreEffective Way to Teach Children to Share
Posted on 11/8/2005
Q: What's the most effective way to get young children, ages 2 and 3, to share, and what should I do when not sharing escalates into violence? I work in a day-care center and this is my biggest...
Read More2-Year-Old Biting People
Posted on 8/2/2005
TO STOP TODDLER'S BITING, DISCIPLINE MUST BE POWERFUL Q: My live-in, 2-year-old grandson started biting people, usually for no reason, about six months ago. We're not talking about love...
Read More29-Month-Old Outbursts
Posted on 5/24/2005
IGNORE TODDLER'S HARMLESS OUTBURSTS TOO MUCH ATTENTION TO MINI-TANTRUMS COULD LEAD TO ESCALATION Q: Our 29-month-old son is mostly well-behaved. But when he doesn't get his way or becomes...
Read MoreAgressive 6-Year-Old
Posted on 10/5/2004
PLAYMATE'S AGGRESSION IS NOT TYPICAL Q: My 6-year-old son's best friend deliberately hurts him when on play dates at either house. It happens too often to be anything but purposeful. He's hit...
Read More2 1/2-Year-Old Becomes Aggressive After Mom Starts Daycare
Posted on 2/24/2004
Q: My son will be 2 1/2 next month. I recently started a family day care at my home. I took in a 3-year-old boy and a 16-month-old girl. My son is not handling this change well. He has become...
Read MoreDoes Time-Out Work with Agressive 2-Year-Old?
Posted on 7/22/2003
Q: Is it OK to use timeout with a child who's barely 2? While I was watching church nursery today, a 2-year-old boy started pushing and hitting the other children. I put him in a chair every time...
Read More5-Year-Old Being Aggressive with 10-Month-Old
Posted on 4/1/2003
GO EASY ON BIG BROTHER Q: When my husband and I realized we were guilty of having created a child-centered home, we began cracking down on our spoiled 5-year-old and began "centering" our...
Read MoreMoms Micromanaging Children
Posted on 3/4/2003
PSYCHO-BABBLE CAN CLOUD YOUR VISION Q: I am a teacher of 3-year-olds at a church preschool. Most of the boys in the class have a lot of energy, but one boy in particular has some developmental...
Read MoreAdoptive Parents Refused to Give Up on Stubborn 2 1/2-Year-Old
Posted on 4/2/2002
MOM'S HAPPY SHE PUT FOOT DOWN Like most people, I love a good story that ends happily. Such is the story I am about to relate. In November, a mom wrote asking for help with her 2...
Read MoreMom-Care is Generally Better Than Daycare
Posted on 5/22/2001
CLOSED MINDS SHUT OUT VITAL RESEARCH ON DAY CARE We live in the postmodern age, which is characterized by a rampant anti-intellectualism. It matters not, for example, that objective evidence...
Read MoreBullying
Posted on 5/15/2001
LET'S HOLD THE BULLIES RESPONSIBLE Bullying has become the issue du jour in America. Not a day has gone by in the past few months that I have not read an article, opened an e-mail, or heard...
Read MorePeople with High Self-Esteem Tend to be More Agressive
Posted on 4/17/2001
UNEARNED SELF ESTEEM SENDS KIDS CAREENING OUT OF CONTROL Who had higher self esteem: Mahatma Ghandi or Adolf Hitler? Columbine High School's 1999 valedictorian or the two CHS students who,...
Read More4-Year-Old Agressive and Disrespectful
Posted on 3/6/2001
Happy Ending File: A good buddy pediatrician tells me he recently saw a 4-year-old who had suddenly become aggressive, disrespectful, and emotionally explosive after several major transitions,...
Read MoreGuidelines for Teaching Toddlers to Share
Posted on 8/29/2000
STOP 'NONSHARING' WITH SWIFT ACTION Last week, after answering a question from the mother of a 5-year-old who was being abused by a 3-year-old playmate, I promised to follow up with guidelines...
Read More3-Year-Old Being Aggressive with 5-Year-Old
Posted on 8/22/2000
POLITELY 'SUSPEND' PLAYTIME WITH A CHILD WHO KICKS, BITES Q. Our 5-year-old daughter and our next-door neighbor's 3-year-old daughter play together a good amount. The problem is that their...
Read More2-Year-Old Biting Others
Posted on 8/8/2000
2-YEAR-OLD'S BITING NEEDS TO BE PUT TO A STOP NOW Q. My brother and his wife have a big problem with their son, Axel, who recently turned 2. For the past 6 months or so, he has been biting...
Read More4-Year-Old Hitting Others
Posted on 6/13/2000
4-YEAR-OLD WHO HITS OTHER KIDS NEEDS IMPULSE SENT TO HIS ROOM Here's an interesting tale: A 4-year-old - I'll call him Bluto - has a habit of hitting other children in his preschool program....
Read More4-Year-Old Agressive Toward 30-Month-Old Sibling
Posted on 11/16/1999
4-YEAR-OLD MUST PAY FOR HITTING BROTHER Q. My 4 year-old is very aggressive, sometimes even violent, toward his younger brother, age 30 months. I don't think he's completely to blame for their...
Read MoreMoms Want to Know What to do When Children Hit Them
Posted on 11/3/1998
MOTHERS, DON'T PUT UP WITH ABUSIVE KIDS ONE MORE DAY Today's women are a paradoxical bunch. They are rightfully proud of the professional and political inroads they've made, yet they too often...
Read More2-Year-Old is Aggressive with Babies
Posted on 3/3/1998
TODDLERS DON'T REALIZE YET THAT BABIES CAN BE HURT Q. Two days a week, my 2-year-old son attends a mother's morning out program that includes children as young as 8 months. At present, he is...
Read More15-Month-Old Biting Other Children
Posted on 2/1/1996
NO ONE KNOWS WHAT MAKES SOME TODDLERS BITE HOW TO HANDLE 15-MONTH-OLD'S FORCEFUL TEETHING' Q. Our 15-month-old son has recently started biting other children, usually when there's some...
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