I did not notice how another year flew by and my daughter Yulia was three. Literally in a matter of days, my flexible and good-natured child turned into an imperious little despot. – Give me the juice! She commanded. – Now! “Do you know the magic word?” I tried to call her to order. This phrase acted flawlessly on her older brother Alyosha, but Julia did not want to give in to her. “Are you a hundred, fooled?” Was her answer. – Give me si-xi-s! At first, I only laughed at the little cheeky: before, she was a sweet, calm child, and I often heard the word “posyalist” from her. But time passed, and she stubbornly refused to treat me humanly. The word “please” completely disappeared from her vocabulary. Then I decided to apply repression: do not fulfill a single request without a “please.” After this, a terrible struggle began, which caused only alienation between us. Continue reading →