It’s hard to be patient at this age. Five minutes is an eternity and impatience is inevitable; there are so many new things to experience, to discover and try out. But over time the ability to be patient will come. Right now, your child’s favourite game might be dropping things – again and again. What a thrill it is to see you pick it up over and over again. Earlier in baby’s development, dropping things was to do with learning a new skill: grasping and dropping – to quite simply open their hands. Now it’s more about testing cause and effect: what happens when I drop it? But one thing is clear, the older your child gets, entertainment becomes more and more important. It’s simply fun to watch you picking things up. Over and over… millions of times. 

“No” might well be your child’s favourite word at this age. No, no, no, no to everything, even to favourite games and foods. Saying no is the easiest way of showing that they have a will of their own; that they’re an individual. So what to do? You can try formulating your questions so there’s no way of answering no to them, for example by giving a choice of two options. Don’t use rhetorical questions. Ration your own use of the word no. Show appreciation when your child answers "yes”. And look towards the future. Most kids get considerably more cooperative around their second birthday.