When your child demands, “Give me juice!” don’t bother telling her, “You’re rude!” Calling her rude is not going to help her learn to be polite. She’ll just learn to say, “You’re rude, too!” It’s more useful to tell her how you feel. “I don’t like being yelled at! That doesn’t make me feel helpful. I like to hear, ‘Mom, can I have some juice, please?’ ” Kids often respond well when we give them the words they can use to get what they want.
