How Three Year-olds Manipulate Their Parents

Whenever Beth does something she knows is wrong, she responds in one of two ways, depending on how she is feeling that day.

If she is in a good mood, she wraps her arms around Mummy's neck and gushes, "Mummy, I LIKE YOU!" with all the ardour of someone in love.

To this, Mummy might reply, "I like you too, but sometimes you're very naughty."

And Beth might then quickly add, "But sometimes I'm good too. Right, Mummy?"

This always makes Mummy smile, and Beth's misdemeanour is quickly forgotten.

If Beth is in a bad mood, her mouth turns downwards and she whines and wails with enough conviction to make her Speech and Drama teacher proud.

Whenever she behaves like this, Mummy and Daddy usually ignore her.

Sometimes, she gets "put in the corner", that is, she is made to stand and face the wall, until she is ready to say sorry for what she has done.

Occasionally though, Mummy would feel sorry for Beth and come over to give her a hug and speak softly but firmly to her.

This usually works, as Beth loves being cuddled.

Mummy and Daddy have their hands full managing Beth's moods. Like many 3 year-olds, she can be an angel one moment and a real monster the next, making them feel as if they have failed as parents.

Mummy asked her good friend Elaine, who has a 5 year-old son, whether this was the norm.

"Oh yes!" Aunty Elaine assured Mummy. "They like to test the boundaries and they'll keep testing you, even when they're 5 years old!"

Looks like Beth has at least another 2 years to go before she matures enough to control her emotions.

Train up a child in the way he should go, so that when he is old, he will not depart from it.