My daughter received her first package of stickers on her second birthday. She wanted to open them right away and put them to use. I remember setting them on top of the T.V. in hopes that she would forget about them until later, after the birthday party. The stickers were sparkly little froggies.

My husband and I were up in the kitchen saying our goodbyes to the last of the party guests. Once the last guests had left we headed down to the living room where our daughter was busy playing with her new toys. "Look guys!" she exclaimed as we entered the room. "My pretty stickers!" We immediately realized she had used her stool to reach the stickers from the top of the television. She had managed to open the package of stickers and had stuck them all over our family room coffee table. My husband and I looked at each other, we couldn't help but grin. We agreed with our 2 year old, "yes, the stickers are very pretty." We then calmly explained to our little girl that the coffee table is not a good place to put stickers. We told her that the next time we play with stickers we should put them on paper.

When I was a little girl, if I had put stickers on the coffee table I would have been yelled at and sworn at. I used to be terrified of my mistakes. My mother had a very short temper when she was in her early twenties and was raising two young children. She definitely went about things in the wrong manner. Now, as a parent myself, I do my very best to handle situations opposite of how she did.

There is no sense in getting upset over a young child’s "accidents." A young child really does not know any better. Children look to their parents, and other adults for loving guidance. A parent/adult needs to be calm and collected when little mishaps occur. As an adult, if you deal with the situation in the appropriate manner, a young child will then learn how to correctly deal with their little accidents. A young child should never have to feel bad about learning from their mistakes.

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