Laura Markham

And apologizing often brings up feelings of shame if we were forced to apologize as children. Any time you act in a way that you wouldn't want your child to act is a time when you need to consider apologizing. But it's our job to manage our own emotions, no matter what our child does, so apologizing when we "lose it" is essential, unless we want our child to copy our "tantrums. And your taking even a small share of the responsibility will help your kids step up and apologize themselves.

I really don't think it's physical because she has yet to wet the bed during the night or nap time. Now, I'm not a medical doctor, and you wrote to me for psychological advice, so let's look at things from your daughter's point of view. We aren't sure why, although probably this is because the child stops seeing toileting as an opportunity for mastery — which all kids want — and starts seeing it as a power struggle with the parent, where the parent is in charge of the toileting and the child is no longer responsible. I know it's hard to get yourself to the toilet on time every time, but soon you will remember, just like you used to.