Testing Limits
As infants, children begin to explore their environment using their eyes, and they test how their parents will react when they cry in different ways. As toddlers, they test out how their bodies can move and what they are capable of doing on their own. As preschoolers, children are often found testing a new type of limit. They often start testing what they can get away with when no one is looking or even when an adult is staring them in the face. As a parent of a preschooler, I have found this testing to be very frustrating. My son will do something that he clearly knows he should not be doing and then stare at me with this blank, ashamed, or plain old guilty look on his face. The question, “Why?” screams through my brain. It is sometimes difficult to keep my cool. However, it is at these times in which it is important to remember that three- and four-year-olds are still learning about self-control. It is very difficult for them to not act on thoughts and desires that come into their minds. It is important as parents that we help them to see that there are consequences for their actions, but also to keep in mind that they are not acting this way just to drive us crazy. So although it may feel as though my son is testing the limits of my own sanity, he is really learning about controlling his impulses.
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Written by Laura on June 12, 2009
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