Most of us appreciate that most toddlers are messy eaters. We don’t look at a toddler with yogurt in their hair and worry that they will become a 12-year old with yogurt in their hair. We know and expect that toddlers will be messy until they have the small motor skills to manage spoons, right? Meanwhile we help them clean themselves up, we teach them to clean themselves up, we give them opportunities to practice, and we keep a ready supply of bibs because we accept the reality of messy toddlers.
Now imagine if we did that for other challenging stages — for sassy 9-year olds and weepy 12-year olds and sullen 15-year olds.
This is why I eye books, courses and experts that promise to cure common problem behaviors of childhood with some distrus