Preschoolers require more finesse to gain their cooperation, because they have not yet reached the age at which they can see and understand     the whole picture. Robert Scotellaro is quoted in The Funny Side of Parenthood as saying, "Reasoning with a two-year-old is about as productive    as changing seats on the Titanic." (He must have had a two-year-old at the time.)

    You can get around this frustrating state of affairs by changing your approach. Let's look at two situations - first the typical (Titanic) way:

    Parent: David! Time to change your nappy.

    David : No! (As he runs off)

    Parent : Come on honey. It's time to leave, I need to change you.

    David : (Giggles and hides behind sofa)

    Parent : David, this isn't funny. It's getting late. Come here.

    David : (Doesn't hear a word. Sits down to do a puzzle)

    Parent : Come here! (Gets up and approaches David)

    David : (Giggles and runs)

    Parent : (Picking up David) Now lie here. Stop squirming! Lie still. Will you stop this!

               (As parent turns to pick up a new nappy, a little bare bottom is running away)

                    I'm sure you've all been there. By the way, David is my son. Like you, I got very tired of this. And then I discovered a better way:

    Parent : (Picking up nappy and holding it like a puppet, making it talk in a silly, squeaky voice) Hi David! I'm Nippy Nappy! Come here and play                       with me!

    David:  (Running over to Nappy) Hi Nippy!

    Parent as Nappy:  You're such a nice boy. Will you give me a kiss?

    David : Yes. (Gives nappy a kiss)

    Parent as Nappy : How 'bout a nice hug?

    David : (Giggles and hugs Nappy)

    Parent as Nappy : Lie right here next to me. Right here. Yup. Can I go on you? Oh yes?! Goody, goody, goody! (The nappy chats with David                                       while he's being changed.)     Then it says, Oh, David! Listen, I hear your shoes calling you - David! David!

    The most amazing thing about this trick is that it works over and over and over and over. You'll keep thinking, "He's not honestly going to fall for      this again?" But he will!     Probably the nicest by-product of this method is that it gets you in a good mood and you have a little fun time with your      child.

    When you've got a toddler this technique is a pure lifesaver. When my son David was little I used this all the time. One day, when he was almost     three, we were waiting in     a long queue at the grocery store and I was making my hand talk to him. He was hugging my hand and looked up at      me and said, "Mommy, I love for you to pretend this     hand is talking."

   Another day, after I had called David to the table for dinner a number of times, he calmly looked up at me, chubby hands on padded hips and said,    "Mommy, why don't you have my dinner call to me?"

    And suddenly, the peas on his plate came to life and called out to David; he ran over to join us at the dinner table.

    A variation on this technique is to capitalize on a young child's vivid imagination as a way to thwart negative emotions. Pretend to find a trail of     caterpillars on the way to     the store, hop to the car like a bunny, or pretend a carrot gives you magic powers as you eat it.

    It's delightful to see how a potentially negative situation can be turned into a fun experience by changing a child's focus to fantasy