Assuming you're parents that see your young son doing something you don't like, and you want to avoid him to do it. What's of these following ways more natural?  Don't do it!  or  Don't do that!
122063
Is this sentence correct?      I did it yesterday, but I’m not going to do it again.   I’m not sure about it. Should I replace “it” with “that”?         I did it yesterday, but I’m not going to do it again.    I did it yesterday, but I’m not going to do that again.    I did that yesterday, but I’m not going to do it again.    I did that yesterday, but I’m not going to do that again.       Are all versions correct?
59942
Baby is 2 years 2 months old.  What will happen if we don't stop and at what age should we stop? Why?  From: What to Expect The Toddler Years (Arlene Eisenberg, ‎Heidi Murkoff, ‎Sandee Hathaway - 2009)     Even if a child doesn't show any such interest, family nudity could become a problem by age three, when it's believed that some children unconsciously become sexually stimulated by parental nudity, and are confused and embarrassed by these feelings. So it's probably wise to start donning bathrobes and segregating showers by your toddler's third birthday. You can explain such a change by saying, 'Now that you're older, you need to have some privacy, and so do I.'
38918
My 13 year old step-son told his mother yesterday that he wants to be a "."   A couple days ago he decided he wanted to make a cat costume. I just shake my head most of the time when he comes up with these ideas and try to remind him he's 13 now and that might not be the priority at the moment (like saving for a car and other teen boy interests). He has ADHD, so his personality is that of a very sensitive and slightly immature nature.  He ended up making his costume and wearing it to school. I didn't know this until after the fact. But his mother (my wife) said that while no one laughed or made fun of him in front of him there was probably some talk behind his back. It is a very small school in a very rural part of the US.  This prompted my wife to have him Google what a "furry" is and after doing so discussing it a bit further on his feelings about that topic. I'm sure the whole concept was introduced to him from spending too much time on YouTube and coming across things which may seem innocent but have longer term effects or other connotations attached to them.  He said he wanted to do this "because he can be who he is." I think the whole thing was pretty innocent but a bit off for a 13 y/o. After the later discussion he expressed that the costuming and what-not would just be a hobby for him, that its not some kind of lifestyle change or related to fetishism.   I'm concerned for a number of reasons. While I struggle with the idea, I worry more for him dealing with it all. I don't see his bio-father taking it well nor his maternal grandfather. Maybe that won't be a big deal if its only a costume making hobby. Should it be a regular thing to wear to school, etc., I see problems. Being in a small town, yet big enough for weirdos as it is, people are very judgmental.   My Question is this:   What should I do? How can we be supportive of him in his choices without him being bullied? Do we help him embrace this or try to deter him away from it? Are we over-thinking this at this point in time?
74970
I have a 4 and a half month old, so this won't be applicable for a while, but I would like to raise my son with the idea that he won't be an only child forever. I want my children to have a good relationship from the start. How do you prepare a toddler to be an older sibling?
118909
I am trying to encourage my 5 1/2 year old son to try different activities but he often simply rejects them out of hand before trying them.  Recently I saw a groupon for ten Taekwondo lessons.  He did not participate in the first 3 lessons and said he didn't like it and wanted to stop.  I told him he had to do the 10 lessons because I paid for them.  After another few lessons he started liking it and now loves going to class and is doing well.  So by forcing him to go he found that he actually did like the activity.  I have been less forceful with regard to other activities because I don't want to be an overbearing father.  I bought him a soccer ball, basketball, bicycle, scooter, motorcycle, baseball and glove, ukelele, piano etc.  He says he doesn't want to do them.  Maybe he would like them if he tried them a few more times like his Taekwondo.  I want to expose him to as many things as I can and want him to find his passion (if he has one) but it seems he just doesn't want to try new things.  I see many other boys his age advancing in these activities while he wanders aimlessly.  He is a very active boy who runs a lot and is generally happy and I don't want to squash that demeanor.  I too took a long time to 'find myself' so I don't want to be too forceful but at the same time if I give up too early he might not find something he truly enjoys and might excel at.  I realize this is a somewhat open ended question with possibly no 'correct' answers but I would be happy to hear other parent's perspectives.
13191
I'm looking for a word (formal, informal, or even slang) to describe a young person who  behave recklessly, like to mess around and often get into trouble with people, don't listen to advice from older people, and has shallow thinking.   People in my country have a word which can be translated into "bullheaded kid" but I find it a bit weird so I want to find a proper word for it.
92387
I know this isn't exactly appropriate for this site -- I'm not a parent, I'm a son -- but I think it's still applicable to the community here. I would prefer feedback from actual parents concerned about other parents, not people who theorize about child-parent relationships, but if there's a better q/a site for me to migrate this question to, please let me know.  I am 20 years old, third year in college. I went to church about every Sunday for the first 18 years of my life, with my parents. When I moved out to go to college, I stopped going to church all together. My Mom still tells me every time I see her (whenever I go home, about twice a semester) that she's praying for me. I go with my parents to church every time I'm home, sing the songs, pray the prayers at dinner, the whole deal. Both my parents ask me if I've found a church yet, how often I go looking, etc. but I always manage to give them the excuse that I've been really busy with school (which is true, but of course irrelevant).   The truth is, I haven't self-identified as a christian since I was 16. I've avoided telling my parents this because... well, it would be very difficult. My Mom would probably get really upset and my Dad would probably just try to get in a huge theological argument with me, but it wouldn't change my mind, it would distress them further, and lead to a large divide between us. At the same time, it feels wrong to outright deceive them all the time. I'm definitely willing to continue whatever traditional religious stuff I would otherwise do to please them, even though it all means nothing (other than family tradition) to me.   As a parent, can you give me some advice on what to do? Should I have the talk and break it to them? If so, what's the best way to do that? How can I avoid religion causing a divide between us?
45027
Is there a witty turn of phrase that indicates one's performing an act that, in its doing, undermines, contravenes, or obviates itself?    relates to a similar idea, but I have it in my mind that there is a saying that describes this state of affairs. "Cutting off one's nose to spite one's face" is not quite what I'm going for because the act of cutting off the nose doesn't negate itself. I'm thinking more of a line speaking about someone who breaks the speed limit on his way to defend himself in traffic court, or wiping off a table with a dirty sponge.
77161
I'm trying to get my kids to be honest and take responsibility.   I'm seeing a repeated pattern where one or both of my kids will lie to get out of trouble. They're starting to see that they can deny responsiblity.   Our current system of reward involves a marble jar, where the family will go out for a collective treat. When this stuff happens we take marbles out of the jar as a joint penalty.   This seems to be decreasing in effectiveness.   My question is: What do I do when I walk into a room with a broken item and both children shrug their shoulders and say "Wasn't me"?  Clarification: Kids are girl: 5 and boy: 4. Cultural context is Australian middle class with two university educated parents.
47600
My son is 5 years old.   Over the last few months I have been observing some disturbing sexual behavior from my child.  He is rubbing his penis on  the bed or pillow. Sometimes he would get naked and rub very tightly and make some sounds of pleasure! Previously, I thought he was playing... but later I understood.   His father doesn't want me to scold him, but one day I was really surprised and shocked by one incident... when I was in deep sleep in the afternoon, I suddenly woke up and saw he had pulled up my skirt and trying to mount me! I was really shocked!  I'm really upset.  What should I do?
84864
My 4 year old daughter recently have scarlet fever. It seems antibiotics are non-negociable for it, and since she has great chance of being allergic to Penicillin, there is only one antibiotic she can get. It is not the first time we have to give it to her, and probably not the last time.  Apparently, that medicine tastes really REALLY bad. She cries a lot, panics every time we say it's time for this medicine, and vomit it most of the time, resulting in even more medicine being force into her mouth.  It is only this medicine that causes problem. She does not tantrum for other medicine, and most of them, she can take the dose we give her all by herself.  We tried reassuring her, explaining why it is mandatory to get it, explaining it will make the scarlet fever go away. We tried mixing it into other food (which seems clearly worse, taste-wise). We tried asking her to take her herself. It seems we tried everything, and the only thing that achieve it for the moment is actually forcing it into her.  We really do not want to force her in any way. Her mother cried yesterday because we had to force her, and we need to do it twice a day. It is very exhausting, and we would welcome any input or new ideas on how to give her this really bad tasting medicine to her.  EDIT : For clarification, it is a liquid medicine that is administrated with a syringe. It seems there are no alternative, although we will check with the doctor again (particularly if pills are available)
69054
I refer to the usage of "don't" as an imperative to tell someone what not to do. As in,     Hey! Don't you dare touch that button!   When it is used in the interrogative or as part of a statement, "don't" can be expanded like most other contractions. It either just breaks up right in the sentence, or surrounds the subject.     Don't you love me, Juanromeo? -> Do you not love me, Juanromeo?      I don't love you, Marijuliet. -> I do not love you, Marijuliet.   However, I have no idea how one breaks up the imperative. "Do you not dare[...]" sounds like it's a lead up to a question, "You do not dare[...]" comes across as a statement moreso than a command, and "Do not you dare[...]" just sounds silly.  "Don't" is a bit unique among "not" contractions (at least that I know of) because it is the only one that can be used in an imperative sense. Couldn't, shouldn't, wouldn't, haven't, isn't, doesn't, aren't, can't... none of these can be used in an imperative sense because you cannot command someone to could, should, etc.  Is it possible to expand the don't contraction when it is used as part of a command? Or is its unique case such that it exists as its own linguistic construct?
4535
When do we use each of the following?     I don't want to ...      I won't want to ...      I wouldn't want to ...
97623
Sometimes a parent may be feeling sad (for whatever reason) and needs to cry.   Is it harmful, or could it even be good, to cry sometimes in front of your children? What does research say?
28173
It's becoming more frequent that my 18 month old daughter has started refusing the dinner we give her without trying it. Our best guess at why, is because it contains green things.   We always check the food and it is damn tasty, and she does like it if she tries it, but obviously explaining this to an 18 month old is difficult.  We know she is hungry, because in the past we have given her a replacement of something like toast and she'll gobble that down.  What is the best way to handle this? We don't want her to think that she can always swap her healthy dinner for toast, so the method we have currently been using is, if after 15 minutes she is still not eating, we'll get her down and say something like "You haven't eaten your dinner, you must not be hungry". If, later she decides she does want the food, we'll put here back on her chair and let her eat.  Is this a good way to handle it? Would there be a better method? We don't want her to grow up having "food issues"
83176
Our son is about to turn 3 months but he is yet to sleep on his own (as in we put him to sleep, put him down on the crib then he sleeps for few hours). He only sleeps when he is carried during the day, the moment we put him down he wakes up crying. At night, he sleeps with us on the bed where he is right next to his mommy. We blame ourselves for letting this happen but now my wife can't do anything during the day but carry him.  What can we do to break him out of this habit? Any pointers would be great appreciated.
1901
This is one thing that keeps bugging me, and maybe there's a direct answer. Grammatically, which one is more correct of these two?  Does it make a difference?  I tried not to do that. I tried to not do that.