Gesa has a new childcare book, very effective actually, and one thing is to give the children choices instead of instructions, when appropriate.
So I try this at bedtime. Instead of ‘Max, get your pyjamas on’, I try the more diplomatic approach.
‘Max, which one do you want to put on first, your pyjama top or bottoms?’
‘Both at the same time, Daddy’.
Darn.