The Strong-Willed Toddler: Positive Discipline That Turns Power Struggles into Connection

Monir Saab is a parenting educator, writer, and certified Positive Discipline trainer who has spent more than fifteen years working with families of young children. His practice, built at the intersection of developmental research and everyday family life, focuses on the children who come with the strongest opinions — the spirited, intense, and strong-willed kids whose parents often feel the most alone.

He has led hundreds of workshops for parents and early-childhood educators on toddler development, emotional regulation, and discipline that strengthens rather than severs the parent-child relationship, and he trains teachers in positive-discipline methods for classrooms from the nursery years through the primary grades. His writing on early childhood has appeared in parenting publications and educator newsletters, and his parent courses are used by families across several countries.

Much of his approach was forged the hard way: at home, where his own strong-willed child taught him that the books telling you to stay calm have never met his three-year-old — and that connection, humor, and repair work even then. He believes that every child is trying to be good, that every parent is trying to be good enough, and that the space between the two is where the real parenting happens.

Monir continues to work with families through workshops, courses, and school consultations, and remains a student of the latest family member to move through the toddler years. He lives with his family, and he would like you to know that on the day he finished this book, someone in his house still refused to put on shoes.