I’m not really in the habit of recommending ‘parenting hacks’, but one I’ve always liked is presenting commands as choices. If, for example, I ask my son if he wants veg with dinner, he’ll offer a comprehensive no. But, if I ask whether he’d prefer peas or carrots, he’ll pick one. That he usually refuses to eat whatever he’s picked is, of course, regrettable, but that’s why I’m not a professional supernanny.
I do now have an unlikely ally in this fight, however, and his name is Bear Grylls. My son’s new favourite show is You vs Wild, an interactive series in which you pilot Bear Grylls through survival situations like a pain-seeking voodoo doll. It should be said that Bear’s idea of likely survival situations could charitably be described as speculative. I laugh smugly as my son tells me, sleepily, after three back-to-back episodes, that the best way to struggle out of a sinking bog is to move as little as possible. ‘I don’t think that’ll come up any time soon,’ I chuckle, before an inward glance reminds me that I spend the entirety of our watches attempting to memorise these self-same strategies.
