Preschool (4-5 years)

John's Most Recent Articles

Why Hanna Sleeps With Us

Posted on 5/9/2023

My wife, Willie (nee Wilma), and I are the happy caretakers of a happy seventeen-month-old pure white toy schnauzer, Hanna. Hanna occupies the center of our attention. If you spent a day in our...

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Odd Behavior Does Not Always Need Psychological Diagnosis

Posted on 12/13/2022

When America’s mental health industry sees the opportunity to broaden its influence, they pounce. If said opportunity presents itself in the form of odd behavior on the part of certain children,...

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Drama-Free Bedtime

Posted on 11/29/2022

Q: Several months ago, my husband and I allowed our five-year-old daughter to sleep with us for a couple of nights. We thought this was innocent, but she began crying hysterically when we...

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Help Son Learn to Give and Take In Conversation

Posted on 11/15/2022

Q: My just-turned four-year-old repeats things he has heard or has said before. For example, even though my brother’s family moved away nearly two years ago, whenever we drive by their...

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Help Big Brother Understand Baby’s Limits

Posted on 8/2/2022

Q: Our soon to be 5-year-old son enjoys playing with his 14-month-old brother, but there have been three times recently when the baby has started crying and when I check, big brother has a guilty...

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Don’t Just ‘Settle’ Dispute, Solve It

Posted on 5/3/2022

Q: Our sons are six and four. When their same-age cousins, come over, they all go down into our basement to play. Invariably, within thirty minutes my youngest comes upstairs crying because his...

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On Chores, Discipline, Potty-Training

Posted on 3/29/2022

Q: When I give my 5-year-old daughter a chore, she does it, but all the while she is muttering under her breath, huffing and puffing, and so on. Do I discipline that behavior or just let her...

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Patience With Young Daughter’s Questions Will Pay Off

Posted on 3/1/2022

Q: I’m concerned that my 3-year-old – she’s nearly 4 – daughter has some sort of language issue. For example, even though my brother’s family moved away nearly two years ago, whenever we drive by...

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In Defense of ‘Because I Said So'

Posted on 2/1/2022

Q: Concerning chores, another expert recommends giving a child a certain number of chips, like poker chips, every month and if he or she fails to do a chore or doesn’t do it properly, you take a...

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Is This Battle Worth It?

Posted on 12/29/2021

Q: I have six-month- and thirty-two-month-old boys. The older one—well-mannered, easy going, very affectionate—attends a preschool program three mornings a week. This is his second year there. ...

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Recent Questions

To Lie or Not to Lie...

Posted 1 week ago

Our 5-year-old son has been telling lies. Most of the time he admits to them when we are questioning him. How do we punish him for lying without dissuading him to confess the truth as he has been?

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3/4 yr old hitting/scratching

Posted 2 weeks ago

My (just turned) 4 year old has been hitting and scratching for a while now. It first began when she was at a day care that we think she may have had some physical/verbal abuse, but we're not sure...

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Cannot serve two masters

Posted 4 weeks ago

Things are going better and God is helping us. I want to continue to stay on top of things and be a good leader for my kids. The issue is after a while, because of how life goes, I start letting...

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How to Implement Chores With Young Children

Posted on 8/28/2023

Do you have any recommendations on what tasks that my 3 and 5-year-old can do and how to implement the routine of doing these tasks efficiently? I think they are old enough to start doing small,...

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Chores, chores YES

Posted on 8/25/2023

I'm not good at consistently requiring my son's aged 5 and 3 to do any chores around the house. I think they are old enough to start doing regular small tasks but I'm not good at holding them to...

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How to Purge the Toys

Posted on 8/25/2023

I have 2 boys aged 5 and 3 and a 1-year-old girl. We are trying to reduce the number of toys we have by gifting the toys we don't need anymore. However, I am finding it difficult to decide which...

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5 yo girl obsessed with sweets

Posted on 7/23/2023

Sugar/Candy Crazy! My daughter is 5 and she is fixated with sweets. It’s all she talks about (donuts, cakes, cookies, candy anything) and she’s old enough that we talk to her about healthy food...

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Not Always Smooth Sailing for 2 and 4YO

Posted on 7/13/2023

I am trying to determine age-appropriate behavioral expectations for a 4.5 year old. He is obedient and does small chores. He knows there are behaviors completely unacceptable (hitting, throwing...

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Change happens with commitment

Posted on 7/10/2023

Our 4.5 year old daughter has started having intense meltdowns - screaming and crying with most things bathroom: washing hands, brushing teeth, raising up or putting down toilet lid, flushing...

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LITTLE ONE TELLS DAD "I DON'T LOVE YOU"

Posted on 5/26/2023

Grandson tells Dad. "I don't Love you" He doesn't say that to mom or grandmom . or even me. dad & mom work crazy shifts so they are ships passing in the night. Dad is home most nights and is a...

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