This 'distraction technique' malarkey....

[SylvanianFamily]

... how does that work then?

I've a three year old and a two year old.

The three year old in particular, if he's a bit wound up about something then any attempt at distraction will completely push him over the edge into a deep abyss of 'why are you showing me a crayon... I said I wanted the scissors. SCISSORS.

I wouldn't say holding a grudge runs in the family or anything, but unless we work through an issue pretty explicitely, he will still be muttering under his breath four hours later: "scissors... I da big boy. I allowed scissors... I AM careful scissors etc etc.

I keep seeing the distraction technique touted on MN as a panacea for this age group. Am I just not doing it right? Or do my children have abnormal powers of concentration, and a destiny of writing streams of long complaining letters to the BBC ('further to my previous correspondence, I'd like to reiterate my deep dissatisfaction with... ')?

I think you may need juicier distractions?... some of my current favourites:

Lets see if there are any strawberries/beans ready to pick in the garden

I really need your help to feed the cat

Lets see if the bath fairies have run your bath already

Lets play with this new empty shampoo bottle/teapot/anything in the house that's vaguely novel in the bath tonight (getting DS into the bath is tricky, can you tell!)

Then while the distraction is working it's magic hide the scissors!

Don't use it if it doesn't work, or as TheLemur says, up the distraction.

I'd say you need to aknowledge what your DS wants or feels, and then try to distract him. "I see you really wanted the scissors, how about we buy you some safety scissors next time we're in town? In the meantime, do you want to help me feed the dog?" etc etc

Why couldn't he have the scissors?

I found distraction stopped working after the age of two to two and a half. At that point you could answer a hissy fit with ' LOOK!!! There's an elephant over near the baked beans!'... resulting in silently amazed child who, by the time they realised there was no elephant near the baked beans, had forgotten why they were annoyed in the first place.

Older, more determined children, when they get in 'scissors' situations, cannot be easily duped or diverted & will only get more frothed up if you argue or try to explain. Keeping it simple ('I'm not going to argue with you') and then leaving them to fume and mutter in private always does it for me. Usually followed up after a decent interval with a cheery... 'So! Who fancies a game/biscuit/walk to the shops?' (Still grumpy children need not apply.. )