A friend of mine once shared with me a parenting tip he claimed had hugely improved his sanity and temper.  After years of delivering a running commentary of advice and instructions to a young son who seemed to be wilfully ignoring him, he was offered the secret to successful communication with the under 6s.  A former teacher, observing a drawn out stand off over a request to come in for dinner, glibly commented that whenever communicating with a young child, try to imagine they have the theme tune to Magic Roundabout running on a continuous loop in their head.