“Help! My baby hates diaper changes! Ideas for baby-pleasing solutions”
Solutions many babies have loved!
win-win solution
The can-do attitude versus the can’t-do attitude
We may fear that a given problem requires coercion or self-sacrifice on our part, but if we nevertheless assume that our fear is mistaken and have fun coming up with possible solutions, often, that can-do attitude can make a difference.
A commitment to figuring it out
We look for solutions that everyone, children included, feel good about. We figure it out! And we relish figuring it out!
The relationship-building power of explanations
The magic of an explanation, of knowledge discovery, is that it is a win-win solution, and often a nearly effortless one at that.
“How can I tell if a proposed solution is a real solution?”
Does the proposed solution spark joy? Is everyone beaming? Are our eyes all shining? Do you see delight? Joy? Animation? Skipping? The odd cartwheel, perhaps? Is it a “YES!!!!” all round? That suggests you have created a real solution.
“How do you solve problems where there is a conflict of interest?”
We look at our respective reasons for wanting what we initially want, and we create a way to proceed that we all prefer—a new idea that did not exist at the outset.
“Does Taking Children Seriously mean children always getting their own way?”
It means children AND parents ‘getting their own way’—such a joy for all of us.
Taking Children Seriously: a new view of children
Taking Children Seriously is a new VIEW of children—a non-paternalistic view: children do not actually need to be controlled for their own good. An Oxford Karl Popper Society talk.