Notes by Frances Bolanos | Plumble’s World

Plumble, Tully, and Wisple watch a green leaf above the stream in Will the Leaf Float?

Notes for grown-ups

Will the Leaf Float? A Little Wonder

Make a little guess, watch a leaf float, and share the happy feeling of finding out together. A new story for ages 2–5.

Notes for grown-ups

The trouble with “good job”

You say it forty times before lunch. There's a real study behind why the wording might matter, a follow-up that traced it to fourth grade, and a good reason not to lie…

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Notes for grown-ups

When they hit

It happens in front of everyone, and the shame arrives faster than the words do. What a large Quebec study found about hitting and biting in the third year, and why it…

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A watercolor illustration of a little girl lying awake in bed at night, smiling, with a cat asleep at the foot of the bed and a full moon in the window.

Notes for grown-ups

The child who isn’t sleepy yet

Some children fight bedtime because they aren't sleepy yet, and no amount of firmness fixes a body that isn't ready. What toddler body-clock research shows, and how to move bedtime without losing…

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A watercolor illustration of a mother kneeling in a lamplit hallway at night, offering a small cup to a little girl in pajamas who is hugging her blanket.

Notes for grown-ups

One more water, one more hug

The light goes off and the requests begin. One more water, one more hug, one more urgent question about diggers. Why the stall happens, and the one bedtime trick with a real…

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A watercolor illustration of a young girl asleep in bed with a lamp lit beside her and a grey cat curled up next to her, a starry night sky in the window.

Notes for grown-ups

Night waking at three and four

Your child slept through from eight months, and now somebody is at your bedside at two in the morning. It usually isn't going backwards. It's a different thing wearing the same clothes.

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A watercolor illustration of a small boy kneeling up on a chair at a kitchen table, chin resting on his hands, watching a small hourglass sand timer.

Notes for grown-ups

Why “wait a minute” doesn’t work

Two things are missing when a three year old can't wait, and neither of them is patience. What the marshmallow research really showed, including the part that fell apart, and three swaps…

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A watercolor illustration of a young girl sitting on a rug in bright afternoon light, looking at a picture book, with a soft toy bunny beside her.

Notes for grown-ups

The afternoon after the nap goes

The nap doesn't end, it frays. What the research says about naps at three and four, what it genuinely can't tell you, and a shape for the hole it leaves in the…

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A watercolor illustration of a small boy sitting at a kitchen table, chin resting on his hands, looking at a single marshmallow on a plate.

Notes for grown-ups

What the marshmallow test actually tells us

The marshmallow test is one of the most famous studies in psychology, and one of the most oversold. Here's what it actually found, what changed when a bigger, more careful study tried…

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A watercolor illustration of a mother kneeling down on a kitchen floor beside her upset toddler, one hand resting gently on his back, a small blue cup on the floor nearby.

Notes for grown-ups

What to say in the first ten seconds

A meltdown gives you about ten seconds before you've already said the first thing. Here's what the emotion coaching research supports, where it runs out, and a sentence worth having ready.

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