3 behaviours to forgive your child for

Do you sometimes shake your head when you see your preschool child behave in a certain way? A top child psychiatrist has said that the two parts of a child’s brain are still developing when they are young – one that is responsible for impulses, emotions and pleasure and the other that is for responsible thinking and making decisions. So, if you are worried that your child is behaving poorly, don’t think that it is a result of poor thinking. Kids this age are not capable of thinking as much as an adult can. Here are three top behavior patterns that you should understand and forgive your child for.

Clumsiness

How many times have you given your child a glass of juice or milk, told her repeatedly that it is very close to her and that she should watch out for it…..and she still spills it? The next time she does that, and before you tell her that you told her so, remember that a child that age is not as coordinated as you are simply because the neurons that fine-tune gross motor skills and fine motor skills have not fully developed yet. Just as babies sit up at six months, crawl at nine months and walk at twelve months, their motor skills too, develop as they grow. Accept that clumsiness is normal for young kids and have more patience with your little ones. As they grow, the clumsiness will go away too.

Selfishness

You may have sometimes been through a situation when your seven-year-old child is sitting with his younger sister sharing MnMs and when they are down to the last two, instead of sharing them, he pops them both in his mouth. A shouting and crying match ensues and you lose you wonder why your seven-year-old is so selfish. Child psychiatrists say that this self-centered phase is a normal and temporary one for children between three and twelve. You should of course counsel your child and encourage sharing but don’t get too upset and reprimand them over and over again.

Lack of empathy

You may have encountered a scene like this: Your three-year-old falls on the driveway and bursts to tears and your eight-year-old continues playing ball or worse still, begins to laugh. You may begin to wonder if this is even your child and if he is, why is there no empathy shown to his own sibling in pain. Don’t worry – this shall pass too.

Children this age are more self-involved and it is not that they don’t care about their siblings; it’s just that they may not notice what is going on. Young children don’t understand compassion like we do and these feelings develop as they age.

Hang in there and enjoy all the stages of parenting!