This theme is worth thinking about for a moment. If you interpret a child’s behavior as planned, intentional, goal-oriented, and purposeful, then labels such as “stubborn,” “willful,” “intransigent,” “manipulative,” “bratty,” “attention-seeking,” “controlling,” “resistant,” “unmotivated,” “out of control,” and “defiant” will sound perfectly reasonable to you, and popular strategies aimed at motivating compliant behavior and “teaching the child who’s boss” will make perfect sense.
