You want to give your child independence but don’t want them to skip their childhood. Here’s how to strike the perfect balance…
It’s the middle of winter but your little girl is adamant she wants to dress herself. She roots through her clothes and settles on her favourite pair of (deeply unsuitable) summer shorts. Do you give in? Or do you insist she wears the long trousers you know are more suitable? “This is something you don’t need to have a battle over. It’s very easy for mothers to get into negative parenting where all you find yourself saying every day is ‘no, no, no’,” says Rachel Waddilove, childcare expert and author of The Toddler Book . “So if your little one really wants to wear shorts rather than long trousers, then you’ve just got to be sensible,” she says. If she’s not going to freeze, let her express herself.
