Pick-up Time Power Struggle

[ebhappydc]

Yes, young children need to listen to us, i agree, otherwise it does tend to turn into a bit of a gong show. They turn into teens and heaven help us if they've become masters of manipulation. I appreciate everyone sharing their stories/opinions....I should have nipped this in the bud right from the start; he is very perceptive. I've had plenty of practice with my own difficult son leaving play places, but i do find it challenging to discipline daycare kids when their parent is there. But this clearly isn't working. And, we sometimes wait to see if they'll outgrow a phase (lucky if it's just 2 weeks!)...but this has been going on a while. Today, he was dressed and ready to go and i popped him into mom's arms so quick he barely had time to blink.

[sandylynn]

Bright sparks! You could NOT have said it better. Having 5 children under the age of 4.....I run a pretty tight ship here. I don't negotiate good behavior. I don't promise treats if they put their shoes on....I won't have my rules undone because the parent is at the front door...I don't like nor want to discipline a child in front of a parent but if their child wants to misbehave and they want to stand there and try to negotiate with their 3 year old about my rules...darn right I will discipline the child in front of their parent....I won't have a child running up and down the hall just because "mommy is here"....ridiculous. ...rules are for their safety as well as my protection....