Your pre-schooler is an intelligent being. Don’t base your treatment of your pre-schooler on such obvious signs of immaturity as spilling things, dawdling, wiggling, or refusing to use the potty.
Yanking, shaking and shouting won’t do a thing to speed a child’s maturity, but it will do a lot to damage his grown-up personality.
If you saw the movie E.T. you’ll recall how Elliott treated the strange creature from outer space. He spoke gently to him. He explained things. He was infinitely patient.
Treat your pre-schooler the way Elliott treated E.T. and you can’t go wrong.
A toddler may seem clumsy and wrong-headed, but inside that little body there’s an intelligent being storing up information and patterns of behavior for later use.
Show respect to the adult that your child will become.