Making Felt Monsters

Monsters Bash Cake Parenting Your Strong-Willed Child Have a strong-willed child? You're lucky! Strong willed children can be a challenge to parent when they’re young, but if sensitively parented, they become terrific teens and young adults. Self-motivated and inner-directed, they go after what they want and are almost impervious to peer pressure. As long as parents resist the impulse to "break their will," strong-willed kids often become leaders. What exactly is a strong-willed, or spirited, child? Often, strong-willed kids are prone to power-struggles with their parents. Research shows that parents who pay attention can avoid power struggles, even with strong-willed kids, by empathizing as they set limits, giving choices, and clearly offering respect. Strong-willed kids aren't just being difficult. So of course you want your child to do what you say. Breaking a child's will leaves him open to the influence of others who often will not serve him. That said, strong-willed kids can be a handful -- high energy, challenging, persistent. 1. 2.