| Question of the Week
Nearly every day, John answers parenting questions submitted to him
by people who are members of rosemond.com. As of May 2008, John and Diane, our
resident toilet training expert, have answered over 3500 questions, all of which
are stored in the Q/A archives in the Members' Area and easily searchable. Every
week, we post one of the questions that either John or Diane has answered. (Occasionally, someone calling himself The Great Splendini will answer questions. This is a mystery to us, but since Splendini's answers are every bit as good as John's and Diane's, we have decided to leave well enough alone.) This
week's Q/A is below. For information on how to become a rosemond.com
member, click here . Sign up today!
August 5, 2008 Once again (see last week), instead of a Q/A of the Week, I've opted for a Helpful Suggestion of the Week: One of rosemond.com's members says her 3-year-old had developed a problem of backtalking his teachers at preschool. Using a technique I frequently recommend, especially with young children, she told him his doctor said that children who sass their teachers need more sleep; therefore, prescribed the good doctor, the child had to go to bed right after supper until the problem stopped. Two nights was all it took to nip this potential nightmare in the bud. The same child started telling people he was shy and not answering them or giving them eye contact. Mom told him that children become shy from watching too many Thomas the Tank Engine Videos. Voila! No more "shyness." Note that in both cases, the problem is redefined. Backtalking becomes a sleep issue and shyness becomes a matter of too much exposure to a favorite video character. This is actually a variation on what's called "indirect hypnosis." The child is not being hypnotized in the conventional sense of the term, mind you, but the false explanation given for the problem is so unexpected as to take hold as a valid suggestion. In one case, the consequence comes from a third party whose authority the child already recognizes: his doctor. In both instances, any potential power struggle over backtalking and excuses of shyness is defused before it gets started. As I have said many times, "Your children may be more intelligent than you are, but you are definitely much, much smarter."
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