There is a lot of drama about little things: children sometimes behave quite irrationally from an adult perspective. The same may be the case the other way around.
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What’s going on now? Parents are always irritated by the behavior of their children. A psychologist says: We have to understand that the little ones think differently – and has a tip for the next tantrum in the supermarket.
Ms. Rose, you say that many parents lack knowledge about the thought structures of their small children. Can you give examples of this?
Parents should realize that children do not think like small adults, but perceive many things completely differently. For example, children take phrases like “Are you kidding me?” literally. Children only understand irony and sarcasm towards the end of elementary school. If the child is experimenting with their muesli in the morning, makes a mess and doesn’t finish, they are just busy with the thing itself. He doesn’t have the thoughts of his parents like “We have to go to the day care center quickly and it’s taking me time to clean up the mess”.
