Saying no

[PeterPater]

Yesterday my daughter asked me for a taste of my coffee and I said no. This isn't the first time she has asked for something and been refused but she got mad, where she usually accepts it. It was hard to stick to my guns.

 

[noahsdad]

She is testing her limits and it is best to stick to your guns for sure! My wife and I had a disagreement on "being to hard on" our first child...now he thinks if he throws a fit he will get his way. It is vary hard to go back now.

 

[danno]

I always think that once you have said "no" you should never go back on it. A child needs consistency and once they know that you can be persuaded to change your mind they will keep trying!

 

[stewy]

We have the opposite problem with our oldest daughter. She won't try anything new. I'd love for her to ask me if she can taste whatever I'm eating or drinking but she is going through a phase where she will eat and drink one thing only!

 

[PeterPater]

Thanks. I don't feel so bad now that I refused her, even though it is hard to do it. Stewy, how old is your daughter? Ours went through that phase a while back so it is probably quite normal.

 

[Daddy-O]

You don't say how old your daughter is, but if she's around ten or older, I don't see the problem. Unless, of course, you don't allow her soda either. Because the way I see it, one is no worse for a child than the other.

 

[greatdad]

What Should I Have Done?

I was in a parking lot a few months ago and something happened that I have thought about from time to time since. A little way across the lot, I heard a person yelling. It was a mother (or female) standing with the driver's door of a van open yelling at a boy. She was calling him names and saying things that would hurt him emotionally. I think he had had an accident in his pants, but I don't remember for sure. She also swatted him a couple of times. I believe that is a time when I should have done something, but I didn't. I've regretted it since and wondered how the boy is doing. Would you have done something and if so, what?