Admit it: Sometimes you get a little overly excited when your toddler does something awesome. How could you not" You?re so proud and you want them to know it, so you clap, you cheer, you may even do a little happy dance.
The only problem is that your toddler might not appreciate the positive reinforcement. At all. In fact, in a matter of seconds, your child?s smile can turn to a scowl and you can find yourself face-to-face with one very pissed-off toddler. Sometimes, my daughter will even angrily wave her arms at me and yell, ?No, Mommy! Stop it! I don?t like that!?
It would be easy to chalk this up to toddlers being, well, toddlers and a little emotionally unbalanced, but here?s the thing: It?s not them?it?s you. (And me.)
?One of the biggest reasons a kid can get grouchy when you clap and cheer is that you?ve stolen her sense of accomplishment,? says Sarah Rosensweet, a Toronto-based educator who specializes in a non-punitive, connection-based approach to parenting. ?It becomes about what you think about what she?s done rather than how she feels about it.?
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Your toddler: 23 months oldOther possibilities for this attitude about-face: Toddlers might interpret a too-exuberant tone as condescending, or they may feel judged, as if you?re only...