My daughter isn’t interested in playing with anyone except her older sister and her friends. They have been together constantly, but the older one is entering preschool. I have tried to get her excited about some things we’ll be able to do together or with friends her own age, but she is not interested. What can I do?

—Running out of ideas.

Dear Running,

Your ideas are great! All you have to do is stop trying to “sell” your plans. Make them, let your daughter know what’s coming up and then let her experience all that fun. Children under the age of 3 1/2 to 4 years have a difficult time understanding that fun is coming up, (they’re pre logic!) especially when they are having fun at the moment with you or their friends and are told that things are changing. They naturally want to stick with the fun times. When she resists, be understanding and say, “Yes I understand that you like playing with _____, we’ll see them after school. Right now we have a play date with_____.” Then let her have her feelings to grieve the change in her life WITHOUT trying to fix it.