Several weeks ago, I had an amusing argument with my 3-year-old daughter. I told her she had to put her favorite toy back in its place, because we were about to leave the house and couldn’t take it with us. She didn’t want to put the toy away, and out of frustration at my words, she threatened to throw the toy in the trash. It took her a few minutes to realize that this threat was, in fact, a way to punish herself, not me – and we eventually sorted it out.
