"You have to put all my blocks back exactly the way I had them! You are not allowed to touch my blocks!"

"Stop talking to Mommy! I have a question, and she needs to listen to me right now!"

While kids of all temperaments have been known to act like dictators at times, parents who have highly sensitive children (HSCs), kids who process their experiences in the world more deeply, report that their children make these kinds of seemingly outrageous demands on a regular basis. HSCs tend to have a low tolerance for discomfort. If the demand is not met, their kids can be very angsty and unpleasant. There may be a lot of whining or a full-blown tantrum.

⁠These moments are so maddening because:

This makes it very challenging for parents working hard to be the empathetic, calm, and connected moms and dads they want to be. ⁠

A common knee-jerk reaction is to admonish or correct: "You can't talk to us that way! It is disrespectful."

This tends to amp kids up further. They are quick to shame in the face of........

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