Give your child a choice in what they wear

YOU ARE set for a family trip to an open farm and your daughter wants to wear a frilly, ankle-length princess dress. You think she’ll look ridiculous and tell her so.

Is it worth battling with your children over their clothes choices? Children need to grow a sense of self – who am I? What do I like? What do I not like? says parent coach Val Mullally.

“Instead of locking antlers, parents need to see this as a healthy sign of a child’s developing sense of independence, part of their growing into maturity,” she says.