Monthly Archives: January 2012

Responding to Biting

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Dear Miss Faith,

I have a 2 ½ year old an 18 month old, and both are biting.  We’re doing as much as we can to prevent them from biting in the first place, but my question is about what do to once a bite has happened.  In general, when one bites another, we say “no biting.  look you really hurt her/him” in a stern way as we comfort the child who was hurt.  is this a good approach?  it doesn’t change things but hopefully in the long run it will sink in someday. thank you again.  your advice is so appreciated.  Be well, MM Continue reading →

Book Review: Simplicity Parenting

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I was looking for a certain post the other day, and it came to my attention that some of my posts didn’t make the transfer over from blogspot!  I don’t know why, but I will go ahead and re-post them gradually.  This one is a book review of Simplicity Parenting that I wrote almost a year and a half ago.  Since then the book has taken the early childhood community by storm, and my mom gives out copies of the book to all of her daycare families–she thinks it’s that worth it.  If you haven’t read Simplicity Parenting, you should definitely check it out. Continue reading →

Refusing to Speak

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Hi Faith,
My friend just turned me onto your blog and the timing couldn’t be better! I have a 16 month old daughter that has stopped talking! She will grunt and/or whine instead. She said her first word at around 1 year old and added another 5 or 6 words to her vocabulary within the next month or two. But at about 14 months, she stopped talking. She still makes animal sounds – cat meow, dog bark, cow moo– and will say the word ‘No’ when she’s REALLY upset (fortunately very rarely). But otherwise everything she points to or requests is coupled with a grunt or whine. When she first stopped talking i thought it may be a phase or that she was teething and that it may hurt her to talk. We realized that we were enabling her so we’ve made an effort to stop rewarding the grunting/whining but that often ends in a meltdown when she doesn’t get what she wants. Needless to say, we’re feeling a little frustrated around here. Help! Continue reading →

Tele Class is Full!

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Just a quick announcement that the January/February Tele Class, Joyful Days with Toddler and Preschoolers, has filled up!  If you would like your name put down for the next class, drop me an email at faith@joyfultoddlers.com  and I’ll send you a message when I set the dates.

Warmly, ~Miss Faith

Clingy & Possessive 2.5yo

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Hi Faith! I have been thinking over the past 10 days that I am sure you could shed some light on what is happening with my 2 1/2 yo. son. I stay at home with him and there have been no changes to routine or the environment that I can detect. In the past my son has been friendly and charming when around others that live in the home (dad, older sister, and grandmother) but over the past 10 days or so it is as if a switch has been flipped. He now tells people to “go away!” when I talk to them. He is very possessive of me. I try to keep conversations short but he still would rather me not carry on with anyone at all! I want to teach him to “share mama” but I also want to listen to his needs and give all of myself to him. Do you have any idea what is happening? Is this common at this age? How should I react when he screams at me to stop talking to others or cries when other are around? Sincerely, ML Continue reading →

Less Than 2 Weeks Till Next Tele Class!

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Joyful Toddlers

Have you seen our new video footage?  I’m totally in love with it!  For some reason I can’t get it to publish in this blog post, but you can check it out in the side bar to the right.  This is a sneak-peek of the footage you’ll see in the upcoming Tele Class, Joyful Days with Toddlers and Preschoolers!

I’m wonderfully excited about the class. I’ve been working hard over the past few days, uploading the course content into its new spot in the password-protected portion of my website, and it has both delighted me anew with how sweet and inspiring the content is, and has sucked me in to adding new thoughts, expanding on previous ideas, and generally enjoying it all. Continue reading →

A Case Against the Toy Chest

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You might be wondering what anyone could have against a toy chest.  Isn’t that an integral part of childhood?  Well, my argument starts with the idea that there are only two things that ever happen with a toy chest:  1)  Everything gets dumped out onto the floor, or 2)  It is ignored.  I guess there’s a third thing which happens, which is:  3) Mom or dad puts everything back in the toy chest at the end of the day and shuts the lid.

Instead of having a toy chest where everything gets hidden at the end of the day, my suggestion is to set up several play-areas in your house with little ‘scenes,’ where when everything is put away, it looks inviting and beautiful.  Toys are displayed in a way that makes you think, “The only thing missing is the kid!”

Why Ditch the Toy Chest?    Here’s why: Continue reading →

Independent Play, Part II

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Joyful ToddlersThis is the second segment of a post that got too long.  A mom wrote in asking how to help her son play independently, when he’s used to having her as his main playmate.  I suggested that she alternate times when she pays direct attention to him, with times of ‘being busy.’  I wrote about the types of direct attention in the first blog, which you can find here: http://joyfultoddlers.com/2011/12/independent-play-part-i/

Be “Busy”                                                                  Children love the excitement they get from having your direct attention, whether it’s you telling a story, snuggling with them, or even yelling at them (so be careful of that!).  But having your direct attention all the time is like eating nothing but gravy: it’s too rich.  So what you want to do is to make sure that children have a balanced diet of your attention.  This doesn’t mean ignoring them; that’s simply less gravy. Continue reading →