Dandelion Parent

For parents of children from birth to five

Know what to say before the hard moment comes.

One short guide a day for your child's age, with words you can actually say. A few days later it comes back and asks what you'd say, until the words are yours.

Get today's guide for my child

Free. No account. Every research claim links to its paper.

or browse all 75 guides

Here's one

Today · 19 months

Block the hit, name the feeling

You tell your toddler it's time to put their toy truck away for dinner, and in a flash of frustration they swing the truck to hit your arm and scream 'NO!'

(Catch the hand.) "I won't let you hit me. You're so mad! You weren't done with your truck. I'm right here."

The card comes back

Two days later · Coming back

Block the hit, name the feeling

You tell your toddler it's time to put their toy truck away for dinner, and in a flash of frustration they swing the truck to hit your arm and scream 'NO!'

What would you say?

That's the whole idea. Reading it once doesn't help at 5:40pm. Having said it in your head a few times does.

Why it works this way

Most parenting advice arrives as a book or a course, and the hard part arrives at 5:40pm with a shoe in the air. Nobody opens an app at that moment. So the work happens earlier, when things are calm, about a minute a day.

Start with what's on your mind

If you want, tell it what you grew up with

Some moments are harder because of how we were raised. If yelling, the silent treatment or clean-your-plate were part of your childhood, you can say so, and some cards will carry a short note for you. You can also say what was good and worth keeping. It's optional, and it never leaves your phone.

What you heard

"Stop crying right now or I'll give you something to cry about!"

What you'd rather say

"I'm getting frustrated, so I'm taking a slow breath. You're safe with me."

What you should know before you trust it

  • Every research claim links to the study it came from; there are 72, and you can read them all.
  • The guides were drafted with AI tools and checked against each paper.
  • No pediatrician or psychologist has reviewed them yet; we'll say here when one has.
  • There's no account, and what you enter stays on your phone.

Sources · How we write the guides

Dandelions take root in hard ground, and their seeds travel a long way. Keep what was good, set down what wasn't.

Get today's guide for my child