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What to Do When Your Child Interrupts You When your child interrupts you, how do you respond? Do you tell him or her to leave you alone until you're finished, suggest he "go watch TV," even explain why you can't talk or read to him "now"? There is another way to help your young child cope with the frustration of having to wait - a new way, the problem-solving way. Play a fun game in calm moments, at the dinner table, at bedtime, anytime really. It's called the "Two Things at the Same Time game." First, you say, "I can eat my food and look at you at the same time. I can tap my head and stamp my foot at the same time." Then ask your child, "What can you do at the same time?" (LET CHILD ANSWER.) "What else?" Now say, "I can NOT tap my head and roll my arms at the same time. I can NOT stand up and sit down at the same time." Then ask, "What can you NOT do at the same time?" Let your child have fun making up things she or he can and cannot do at the same time.

A `different' game Now play a game with the word DIFFERENT. "I just picked up a glass. Now I'm picking up a fork. Did I pick up the SAME thing or something DIFFERENT?" "Now I picked up the salt shaker. You pick up something DIFFERENT." Now when your child interrupts you on the phone, you can ask: "Can I talk to you and to my friend at the same time? Can you think of something different to do while you wait?" One boy, age 6, was tugging on his mother's skirt while she was talking to the doctor. She simply asked, "Can I talk to you and to the doctor at the same time?" "No," he replied with a smile, "and I can think of something different to do." He walked into the waiting room, opened up a magazine, and looked at the pictures. Had his mother suggested, "Go into the waiting room and look at the pictures," would he have? Too often we offer an answer, instead of helping children exercise their minds. Kids can think for themselves, as early as age 4. by Dr. Myrna B. Shure These tips and others were heard in a special five-part series entitled "Raising a Thinking Child," hosted by Dr. Myrna B. Shure, on WHYY-91FM. Dr. Shure is a research professor in the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology at Allegheny University, is author of "Raising a Thinking Child" (Pocket Books, 1996) and "Raising a Thinking Child Workbook" (Holt, 1996) and is the recipient of the 1996 Parents' Choice Award. Her books are available on audio tape (BDD Audio, 1996) and in local bookstores.