I think a few of my cousins has gone as some iteration of a cat for the past few years. Sometimes just a cat costume, a few years ago though they did Dr. Suess Cat in the Hat with their kids as Thing 1 and 2. Then the Chesire Cat with their kids as Alice and the Mad Hatter. I think last year they went as like an…

I am the product of a 8.5 year gap. My kids are around 4 years apart. My friends have kids with two year gaps, and up to 10 years apart.

Not even necessarily an audience — kids are learning to be socialized. Is it socially appropriate to cry? Am I expected to cry? Is crying a legitimate form of communication at this time? (Crying IS a form of communication, which is something we word-using grown-ups forget often.)

Whenever my son starts throwing a temper tantrum or crying for no particular reason, I just walk away and ignore him. Works every time. It’s sometimes pretty amusing to see him stand up from a temper tantrum, calmly walk over to where I am now, and dramatically throw himself back onto the floor to start again. Temper…

My daughters, IMHO. did not cry enough. Oh, yes, they would cry if they were physically hurt, but it never lasted that long. It took a really nasty emotional shock to get them to weep, even when they were young. When they were teenagers, I only saw the eldest cry once, her younger sister never did.

I use “I can’t understand what you’re saying” broken-record style for general whininess and tantrums. It forces the kid to calm down to be heard, doesn’t invalidate legitimate needs, and doesn’t encourage tantrums by getting any sort of emotional response out of you.

Well, yes and no. Every kiddo and every situation is different. You have to tease out when the kid is genuinely upset or when they are being manipulative to get what they want.

It actually works with kids as young as one. Kids are way smarter than most people give them credit for. If you work in early childhood education, you learn how to use positive guidance and talk like that and it is incredibly effective.

Yes to all of this.

You really never know.

Bourbon. give the kid lots of bourbon. And make sure you suggest this to all your friends with children as it will guarantee no on will ever ask you to babysit!
If you’re opposed to giving a child alcohol (which will probably get you arrested, drink the bourbon yourself. However, unlike the kid, make sure you drink…

I was nannying my 3.5yo nephew when he fell in slo-mo from his bike, and duly started crying. I went full rational on him, and asked if he was crying because he was hurt, or got frightened. “I got frightened” “Will a hug fix it ?” “Yes” “Let’s have a big hug then”.

I usually just start with, “yes, yes yes yes” said sincerely and compassionately, often with hugs. It opens them right up to feeling it is okay to cry and even talking about it, if they can. That speeds up a resolution to the crying or just a release of whatever they were crying about so they can be ready to move onto…

Hell, that would be tough to follow if you’re an adult if he’s juggling enough stress to get emotional. It seems like these suggestions were written out without being said out loud to test for speech-friendliness and how long it takes to say, which seems to be a common mistake on “what to say” articles.

OOO let someone who doesn’t have kids try:

I don’t have kids but I have a dog. Kids and dogs are exactly the same thing. If you think otherwise you are wrong. Anyway, yelling “Shut the fuck up!” works sometimes. Other times he just keeps barking at me. Usually you can get them to stop by giving them a rawhide or throwing a ball.

Same. So yeah, I say “STOP CRYING!” a lot. and I always feel kind of guilty about it because my dad would say it to me and it made me feel so small and unimportant. But damn, when she won’t stop and I know she’s just doing it for attention...

There’s always one know-it-all.

Usually when I say “Stop Crying” it’s because I’ve exhausted all of the “patience options” I have. I do my best to be supportive, understanding and patient, but sometimes my kids are just crying because they are too stubborn to stop (which, is likely thanks to my genes).