The battle

Many parents have said to me “He gets so frustrated. I think once he starts talking it will get better.”

Sometimes that’s true, and sometimes it’s more than that. The good news? You can still help your frustrated child. Language development doesn’t happen overnight and we need solutions, like, yesterday!!!

Choices!

Many of us are feeling a lack of control in our lives right now, and our kids are probably feeling that way too. They don’t have a lot of control in their day anyway. Giving them choices can help they feel empowered but also may help their cooperation with what you want them to do. We just need to be a little creative to make sure what we need them to do still gets done in the meantime. 

For example: 

• It’s bath time, do you want to play with the cups or the foam toys?
• We are having chicken for dinner. Should we have rice or potatoes with it?
• It’s time to put on our socks. Do you want the stripes or the green ones?
• It’s quiet time, do you want to rest in your bed or in your tent (this is the current situation in our house….

The point is not that they can opt out of the task that needs to happen but that they have some say in how it gets done and it can support their receptive and expressive language throughout the whole day!