{"id":3458,"date":"2017-02-17T11:12:51","date_gmt":"2017-02-17T16:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mlparentcoach.com\/?p=3458"},"modified":"2017-02-17T11:10:24","modified_gmt":"2017-02-17T16:10:24","slug":"preschoolers-friends-arent-playing-nice-parent-intervene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/preschoolers-friends-arent-playing-nice-parent-intervene\/","title":{"rendered":"When a preschooler\u2019s friends aren\u2019t playing nice, should a parent intervene?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"Q:\u00a0<\/b>My almost-4-year-old is sweet and sensitive (and crazy, of course, as they all are). She plays well with others, as long as they want to or are also playing. How do I help her deal with kids who aren\u2019t playing well back? I intervene if there are safety issues, but what about subtler things? A\u00a0kid blocking the steps on the playground, for example, or general not-knowing-how-to-share issues? Today I had to steer her, crying, into her preschool room because her friend was refusing to say hello and she didn\u2019t want to go in until she had greeted her friend. I know little kids will be little kids, and I want to help her have the tools to deal with them without hovering behind her. But I also don\u2019t want to leave her adrift; she\u2019s still very young. What\u2019s the right amount of help?<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0<\/b>What a thoughtful question. Thank you for sending it in.<\/p>\n

Our culture appears to be of two minds on how much to protect a child from the emotional bumps of life. On one hand, more experts are saying that children are not being raised with enough grit and resiliency. Our children are too \u201cspecial snowflake\u201d for the rough world, and the emotional wounding often proves too much for even college-age sons and daughters.<\/p>\n

Yet even as the books are written, our culture continues to go out of its way to make sure no feeling is left behind. We still\u00a0have trophies and medals for participating. Children still get stickers and stars for showing up. And parents are still calling teachers, college professors and employers on behalf of their children. We want our children to have grit; we just don\u2019t want them to suffer to earn it.<\/p>\n

So what is the deal? We can\u2019t hang our preschoolers out to dry, hoping that they will adapt to their hardships. All but the most emotionally dead adults know that young children cannot protect themselves from the pain of life because they are too immature. Their prefrontal cortices are not developed enough to help them, and logic has not taken a strong hold. Preschoolers are emotional creatures, and our job as parents is to protect them from too much pain. We must make their lives relaxing and safe. We don\u2019t need to make life hard for preschoolers to adapt and change.<\/p>\n

But.<\/p>\n

Life is hard anyway, right? Even if you move your daughter away from physical danger, there are still the friends who don\u2019t say hello and the teachers who don\u2019t understand and the plans that fall through. Life, every single day, offers preschoolers ample frustrations, and we simply cannot (and should not) control for all of these challenges. We need to make room for all of the emotions that come from the big and small futilities of life. The way to help your daughter through the hardships of not being wanted, of not being chosen, of not being accepted is to allow her to cry. To have her sadness about what is not working. This is the adaptive process of humans. We will change what we can, and we will have our sadness about what we cannot.<\/p>\n

I know you are asking about \u201cthe right amount of help,\u201d and the answers are \u201cit depends\u201d and \u201ctrust your gut.\u201d There is no theorem for the right amount of help. If your child has just been through a trauma, you go out of your way to remove as many challenges as you can, knowing that your child cannot shoulder any more emotional upset. If everything is copacetic in your child\u2019s life, you may allow more challenges to reach her because she can handle them. She feels safe to cry with you and will move through them. And I say \u201ctrust your gut\u201d because this takes practice. There will be times you protect when you needn\u2019t, and there will be times you should have stepped in. Parenting is a dance.<\/p>\n

The overall message is: Allow your child to cry about what doesn\u2019t work in her life. You don\u2019t have to engage in a full-blown therapy session \u2014 just make room for her sadness. How?<\/p>\n

\u2022Don\u2019t cheerlead her out of it. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be fine! Don\u2019t worry!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022Don\u2019t turn to logic. \u201cBut I told you the zoo was closed today. Why are you crying?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022Don\u2019t fix. \u201cI am going to go to your friend right now, bring her back and have her say hello to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022Don\u2019t shame. \u201cYou are 4. You know better than to be sad about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022Don\u2019t threaten. \u201cI will give you something to cry about if you need to cry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u2022Don\u2019t minimize. \u201cHoney, this is nothing. This is not a big deal. Let\u2019s move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022Don\u2019t ignore her.<\/p>\n

The opposite of the above list is to simply listen and reflect. \u201cYou\u2019re sad Erin didn\u2019t say hi. I get it.\u201d An encouraging back rub, a hug, loving eye contact and an empathic voice are all most \u00ad4-year-olds need to be sad and move on from life\u2019s small setbacks. No lectures or drawn-out scripts needed. Just good old-fashioned kindness.<\/p>\n

Dance around with this. There\u00a0are times to protect and times to allow the adaptation. Trust yourself and keep learning.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Find this over on The Washington Post<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Q:\u00a0My almost-4-year-old is sweet and sensitive (and crazy, of course, as they all are). She plays well with others, as long as they want to or are also playing. How do I help her deal with kids who aren\u2019t playing well back? I intervene if there are safety issues, but what about subtler things? A\u00a0kid blocking the steps on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,301],"tags":[725,721,724,727,728,723,584,585,8,592,591,726,722,593],"class_list":["post-3458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parenting","category-washington-post","tag-child-and-friendships","tag-helicopter","tag-how-to-help-child-learn","tag-how-to-help-child-with-friends","tag-how-to-navigate-friendships","tag-how-to-protect-child","tag-meghan-leahy","tag-on-parenting","tag-parenting","tag-parenting-advice","tag-parenting-tips","tag-preschool-tips","tag-snowflake","tag-washington-post-parenting"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen a preschooler\u2019s friends aren\u2019t playing nice, should a parent intervene?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Q: My almost-4-year-old is sweet and sensitive (and crazy, of course, as they all are). How do I help her deal with kids who aren\u2019t playing well back?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/preschoolers-friends-arent-playing-nice-parent-intervene\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When a preschooler\u2019s friends aren\u2019t playing nice, should a parent intervene?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Q: My almost-4-year-old is sweet and sensitive (and crazy, of course, as they all are). How do I help her deal with kids who aren\u2019t playing well back?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/preschoolers-friends-arent-playing-nice-parent-intervene\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Meghan Leahy Parent Coach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-17T16:12:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-17T16:10:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/new\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/girl-swinging-1-300x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Meghan Leahy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Meghan Leahy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/preschoolers-friends-arent-playing-nice-parent-intervene\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/preschoolers-friends-arent-playing-nice-parent-intervene\/\",\"name\":\"When a preschooler\u2019s friends aren\u2019t playing nice, should a parent intervene?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-17T16:12:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-17T16:10:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/#\/schema\/person\/74ff7f6e6196b92bb9881fbaff25225d\"},\"description\":\"Q: My almost-4-year-old is sweet and sensitive (and crazy, of course, as they all are). How do I help her deal with kids who aren\u2019t playing well back?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/preschoolers-friends-arent-playing-nice-parent-intervene\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/preschoolers-friends-arent-playing-nice-parent-intervene\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/preschoolers-friends-arent-playing-nice-parent-intervene\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When a preschooler\u2019s friends aren\u2019t playing nice, should a parent intervene?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/\",\"name\":\"Meghan Leahy Parent Coach\",\"description\":\"Helping parents. Plain and simple.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/#\/schema\/person\/74ff7f6e6196b92bb9881fbaff25225d\",\"name\":\"Meghan Leahy\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4109b08a6ecac6d5c68c5d4a8c8372dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4109b08a6ecac6d5c68c5d4a8c8372dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Meghan Leahy\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When a preschooler\u2019s friends aren\u2019t playing nice, should a parent intervene?","description":"Q: My almost-4-year-old is sweet and sensitive (and crazy, of course, as they all are). How do I help her deal with kids who aren\u2019t playing well back?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/preschoolers-friends-arent-playing-nice-parent-intervene\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When a preschooler\u2019s friends aren\u2019t playing nice, should a parent intervene?","og_description":"Q: My almost-4-year-old is sweet and sensitive (and crazy, of course, as they all are). How do I help her deal with kids who aren\u2019t playing well back?","og_url":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/preschoolers-friends-arent-playing-nice-parent-intervene\/","og_site_name":"Meghan Leahy Parent Coach","article_published_time":"2017-02-17T16:12:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-02-17T16:10:24+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/new\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/girl-swinging-1-300x300.jpg"}],"author":"Meghan Leahy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Meghan Leahy","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/preschoolers-friends-arent-playing-nice-parent-intervene\/","url":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/preschoolers-friends-arent-playing-nice-parent-intervene\/","name":"When a preschooler\u2019s friends aren\u2019t playing nice, should a parent intervene?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-02-17T16:12:51+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-17T16:10:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/#\/schema\/person\/74ff7f6e6196b92bb9881fbaff25225d"},"description":"Q: My almost-4-year-old is sweet and sensitive (and crazy, of course, as they all are). How do I help her deal with kids who aren\u2019t playing well back?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/preschoolers-friends-arent-playing-nice-parent-intervene\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/preschoolers-friends-arent-playing-nice-parent-intervene\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/washington-post\/preschoolers-friends-arent-playing-nice-parent-intervene\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When a preschooler\u2019s friends aren\u2019t playing nice, should a parent intervene?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/","name":"Meghan Leahy Parent Coach","description":"Helping parents. Plain and simple.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/#\/schema\/person\/74ff7f6e6196b92bb9881fbaff25225d","name":"Meghan Leahy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4109b08a6ecac6d5c68c5d4a8c8372dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4109b08a6ecac6d5c68c5d4a8c8372dc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Meghan Leahy"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3458"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3458"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3462,"href":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3458\/revisions\/3462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlparentcoach.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}