⟩ My daughter is the most stubborn child I have ever known. Once she has made up her mind not to do something she will not budge. Last week she insisted on wearing summer sandals despite the pouring rain outside and for the whole of the week before she refused to get out of the car to go to nursery. Her wilfulness is driving me to despair?
Children often try to test boundaries but in my experience as a childcare worker I have found that the best approach is not to make too much of an issue of it. The more you try to get children to do something the more determined they tend to become. Shouting and telling children off in these situations can be useless, so try to remain calm. It’s can be useful to find out exactly why your child doesn’t want to do something; talk to her and ask her if there is a reason she doesn’t want to go into nursery. If there is persistent refusal to attend nursery I would suggest you speak to the staff and organise a little job for her to do before nursery starts, for example help set up a play area with toys. This way you and your child’s nursery worker can work to find a solution together.
