Social-Emotional Characteristics

Toddlers are typically…

Vignette:
Once when I was caring for a friend’s toddler, he kept telling me solemnly “man down the drain.” I tried many approaches with him, such as repeating what he said and asking simple questions. But none of my responses seemed to satisfy him since he continued to repeat himself--he obviously wanted something else from me. The mystery was finally solved when his preschool-aged sister returned home and said, “Maybe he’s talking about his little play man that went down the bathtub drain at my grandparents’ house?” After hearing that, I went to him and told him that even though the toy man went down the drain, he never, ever would. With that, the anxiety disappeared from his face and he was able to play again.

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