Or bites? Or refuses to sleep? Or throws a tantrum? Or won’t share?
Or fights with a sibling when you’re just hanging by a thread!?
After 30+ years as an early childhood teacher—working with thousands of under-5s—I can assure you: Your child is not trying to make your life difficult. They’re sending you messages—clues from their inner world.
And they’re doing it the only way they know how.
Your preschooler is trying to get you to understand things they don’t yet have the words or the emotional tools to explain.
Do they seem to follow their own internal GPS — sometimes at dangerous speeds — even when you give clear directions?
There are ways you can connect with them to get their willing cooperation and avoid the drama.
I have 19 simple, everyday techniques (“superpowers”) that I use to sidestep challenging preschooler behaviors — or handling them when they arrive unannounced. I’ve “battle-tested” these superpowers over 30 years of early childhood teaching, and I've seen them turn everyday challenges into calm, gentle connection and effective outcomes, again and again.
And the bonus for you?
When you use your “superpowers,” your child will feel truly connected WITH you (as opposed to controlled BY you).
You really can get from power struggles with your preschooler to gentle parenting solutions that work.
Hi! I’m Maria. I’ve spent 30+ years as a practicing, qualified early childhood teacher.
I’ve worked “on the floor” with thousands of preschoolers and I’ve had four children of my own. Now I’m a grandmother with preschool-aged grandchildren. So I guess you could say that when it comes to preschoolers, if I haven’t seen it all, I’ve sure seen most of it!
Preschool teachers face a unique challenge.
They must manage children with very diverse personalities, home environments, and levels of development. That's the job. And they have to do it fairly, they have to do it consistently, and most of all, they have to do it effectively— or they’ll have chaos (and unhappy parents!).
And this is where it gets tricky.
Teachers must manage this assorted collection of children:
without conflicting with parents’ parenting styles
without many of the strategies commonly used at home — like raised voices or withholding treats
without punishment — a total no-no in an early childhood centre
without violating the rules and regulations of their center and regulatory authorities
So early childhood teachers must find — and consistently apply — gentle child-management strategies that work. They simply have to. They cannot be theory-driven academics; their approach has to be practical, down-to-earth and focused on what actually works.
That’s my background.
It’s what I’ve done for all those years.
And now I’m putting all that experience into my books — why preschoolers behave the way they do (There Is Always a Reason) and the most effective strategies I've found for getting their gentle cooperation (Parenting Superpowers).
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