My 3 year old daughter has been eager to take dance, gymnastics and swim classes like her 5 year old sister, so we tried them. She loved them and asked about going back to these classes all week. This week it is a completely different story, once there she has refused to participate in all three, claiming she doesn’t like them or want to go back! What should I do? I think it’s about POWER!

Dear Power,

It sounds like your daughter is stuck. It might have started out to be about Power, but now that it has happened three times I think she has moved from making her point to simply being stuck. There is an easy solution. Share with her that you have figured out she is stuck. Be sure to show your enthusiasm about having made this discovery, it is after all a treasure! Make up a ritual to say good bye to the “stuckness”. You could sing a “goodbye stuck” song, or light a candle and let her blow it out with the instruction that she will move past being stuck once it is out, or make up a ritual together. The idea is to utilize your child’s magical thinking, and developmentally children think magically until 8 years so the area is ripe for using it to solve problems! Do the ritual with as much pomp and circumstance as you can muster, invite the family to join in the celebration. Once it is completed congratulate your daughter on moving through this passage successfully!