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Affirmations to Help Your Child Learn About POWER and IDENTITY

BY ARLENE F. HARDER, MA, MFT

"A three year old child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a fifty-six dollar set of swings as it does out of finding a small green worm."

— Bill Vaughan

"Any child can tell you that the sole purpose of a middle name is so he can tell when he's in trouble."

— Dennis Fakes

The tasks for children in this developmental stage are to learn who they are in relationship to others and to begin practicing socially appropriate behavior. They also need to differentiate between what is real and what is fantasy and to acquire information about the world, their bodies, and their sex roles.

Affirmations needed by all babies from three to six years of age—and by everyone else as well:

We enjoy having you explore who you are and finding out who other people are.

You can feel powerful and capable and still ask for help when you want it.

You can learn that behavior has consequences.

You can imagine things without being afraid they will come true.

We gladly give you our support and love.

All of your feelings are okay with us.

This Cartoonist Gets it Right

Lynn Johnston, the fine creator of the “For Better or for Worse” comic strip sees children and their parents with a clear eye. In a strip of Dec. 7, 1995, she drew the following:

A little girl in the dentist's office is screaming, “Where's my PRIZE? I WANN PRIZE! I'M S'POSED TO GET A PRIZE!”

The receptionist tells her that, “Our prizes are for after you'd had your dental work done, Bethany. When you let the doctor fix your tooth, then you can have a prize.”

“WAAAAHHHH!” she cries, as her mother says, “That's ok, honey, Mommy will buy you something! Let's go buy a toy!” and they walk out the door as the doctor is filling in the chart.

When the receptionist looks at the chart, she says to the doctor, “Interesting description of the lower molar on this chart, John!”

The dental hygienist asks, “Why? What does it say?”

“. . . spoiled rotten.”