Sep 12, 2026 · 16 min · 15 segments
“How Do You Get Your Kids to Cooperate”- Listen to my Morning Monologue: I’m sharing my take on pressing issues, enlightening research on human behavior, answering questions I get by email, and my…
Laura SchlessingerHostWhen kids are busy doing something and you go over and, "Go brush your teeth," "Put this in your room," "Stand on your head," whatever it is, when they're busy doing something, chances are they're not gonna shift just because you made a demand.
The likelihood of cooperation when you interrupt and interfere with what they're in the middle of won't work.
It's better to go, sit down, crouch down, bend over, whatever, and say, "Sweetie," or whatever your nickname is, "It's getting close to..." dinnertime, bedtime, travel time, whatever it is.
Once they have shifted attention, that's the time to say, "Go brush your teeth." "It's time to brush your teeth.
Let us go to the bathroom." 'Cause you don't want a toddler to be on his own or her own going to the bathroom to brush their teeth because they get distracted by anything as they walk down the hall.
And I know you're such a busy person, but you did volunteer to become a parent, so act like one.
"Let's go to the bathroom and make funny faces into the mirror as you brush your teeth." 'Cause clowning around is important.
I can't tell you, I have must-- Definitely, I've done this at least 100 times.
I'll be anywhere, on an airplane, in a mall, anywhere, walking down the street, walking by some people sitting with a kid.
One looks to be about seven and the other about three, two and a half, three, something like that, and it's a little outdoor cafe.
It was in an area I thought, "I don't know that I wanna even get out of my car, much less eat here," but it was wonderful.
And the kid is, "Ah." And so I stopped and looked, and the mother, you know, 'cause mothers get embarrassed, doesn't want her chocolate milk.
So I crouched down, I smiled at the little girl and I went, "Really? You don't want the chocolate milk? Really? Wow." The minute I just did that, and that was meaningless, kid just stopped and looked at me.
And I said, "Water? What is it? Iced tea?" And I was just making silly faces and talking in a silly voice, and the behavior stopped.
I remember one time in particular, a kid is, "Ah." So I got behind the parent and I went, "Ah." The kid stopped instantly and looked at me like, "Are you trying to compete with me? This worked until you intervened." Parents always get a kick out of it because it's, without saying anything, it's proof that the kid is really not in distress.
When kids are busy doing something and you go over and, "Go brush your teeth," "Put this in your room," "Stand on your head," whatever it is, when they're busy doing something, chances are they're not gonna shift just because you made a demand.
The likelihood of cooperation when you interrupt and interfere with what they're in the middle of won't work.
It's better to go, sit down, crouch down, bend over, whatever, and say, "Sweetie," or whatever your nickname is, "It's getting close to..." dinnertime, bedtime, travel time, whatever it is.
Once they have shifted attention, that's the time to say, "Go brush your teeth." "It's time to brush your teeth.
Let us go to the bathroom." 'Cause you don't want a toddler to be on his own or her own going to the bathroom to brush their teeth because they get distracted by anything as they walk down the hall.
And I know you're such a busy person, but you did volunteer to become a parent, so act like one.
"Let's go to the bathroom and make funny faces into the mirror as you brush your teeth." 'Cause clowning around is important.
I can't tell you, I have must-- Definitely, I've done this at least 100 times.
I'll be anywhere, on an airplane, in a mall, anywhere, walking down the street, walking by some people sitting with a kid.
One looks to be about seven and the other about three, two and a half, three, something like that, and it's a little outdoor cafe.
It was in an area I thought, "I don't know that I wanna even get out of my car, much less eat here," but it was wonderful.
And the kid is, "Ah." And so I stopped and looked, and the mother, you know, 'cause mothers get embarrassed, doesn't want her chocolate milk.
So I crouched down, I smiled at the little girl and I went, "Really? You don't want the chocolate milk? Really? Wow." The minute I just did that, and that was meaningless, kid just stopped and looked at me.
And I said, "Water? What is it? Iced tea?" And I was just making silly faces and talking in a silly voice, and the behavior stopped.
I remember one time in particular, a kid is, "Ah." So I got behind the parent and I went, "Ah." The kid stopped instantly and looked at me like, "Are you trying to compete with me? This worked until you intervened." Parents always get a kick out of it because it's, without saying anything, it's proof that the kid is really not in distress.
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3 of 4
Playful Tactics Stop Tantrums
Playful interruptions can instantly stop a tantrum
Stop Asking, Start Directing
Children need clear commands, not polite questions
Give Children Controlled Choices
Praise and choice can make cooperation easier
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