Imagine a life where your toddler or preschooler is happy to do what you ask, and is able to recover and move on, easily, when disappointed. Imagine getting all of your housework done while your child plays, or happily helps alongside you. And imagine feeling confident in your skills to help young children navigate the waters of social interactions with one another. "These things are possible for both parent and child," asserts Faith Collins, author of Joyful Toddlers and Preschoolers, even if a child is extra sensitive, demanding, needy, belligerent, or all at the same time. Collins is a preschooler teacher, parent coach and mother, who has witnessed such results repeatedly over many years. Her book is a treasury that provides readers with powerful, easy and positive tools to achieve profound harmony in their own families. The focus and unique contribution of this book is the principle of a mutually-responsive relationship. Mutually responsive means that both people respond quickly and positively to each other, even-and especially-when they cannot do what the other person wants. In a warm and easygoing style, the author guides parents and caregivers in establishing and maintaining such relationship with their young ones, creating the basis for discipline, education, socialization and a happier life together. Helping our children to develop the skills of mutually-responsive relationship becomes a game-changer in all parent-child dynamics. A growing population of parents are hungry for specific advice that works and meshes with their valueseZ¯that is, practical books on conscious parenting. Many books with this focus claim to be applicable to "all ages," but in reality deal almost exclusively with children ages four and older who are able to remember and discuss past and future actions. The Joyful Toddler fills a gaping hole in this marketeZ¯it is a values' based approach that specifically addresses the needs of both child and parent in the toddler and preschool years. Additional topics include: - Supporting our children as they learn to control their impulses - Learning to be responsive to our children's deeper needs, rather than their whims - Fun, gentle training toward participation in household tasks - Helping them deal with their frustrations and meltdowns in ways that work for everyone - Creating a life that works for kids and parents