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Everything started on the balcony at Buckingham Palace during the Jubilee flypast on June 2nd. Prince Louis scrunched up his face, covered his ears, and then appeared to start screaming.
Then, three days later, during the Platinum Pageant, the young royal was seen sticking his tongue out and holding his hand up to his nose at his mother. He was also spotted slumped in his chair covering his eyes in the front row of the Royal Box.
But according to some accounts, Louis was going hard for most of the celebration. In fact, royal photographer Chris Jackson said he had a hard time snapping pictures of the boy during the festivities.
On his Instagram Stories, Jackson — who has photographed the British royal family for over two decades — admitted that shooting Louis was difficult because he was too busy cackling to take a good photo.
"I was struggling to keep the camera still as I was chuckling whilst taking these photos, what a character," the photographer said according to the Hello! Magazine reported.
Louis’ shenanigans were a hit throughout the four-day party, starting with the flyover on June 2nd at Buckingham Palace when he was spotted covering his ears and making cheeky faces.
The little prince's behavior even made some people beg the question: is it normal for a 4-year-old to act like this or is he just a spoiled brat? But Kaitlin Soulé, a licensed family and marriage therapist in California and the author of 'A Little Less of a Hot Mess: The Modern Mom’s Guide to Growth & Evolution,' told The New York Post that Louis' mannerisms were "completely normal and developmentally appropriate."
"With children around his age, part of their developmental task is to push boundaries and figure out how to be in the world," Soulé explained. "They are really learning from us and they are mimicking our behavior, and I am sure he's been shushed plenty of times. They truly learn from our behavior."
While most preschoolers have gained a little mastery over temper tantrums, experts say they still haven't developed enough impulse control to prevent the occasional aggressive behavior. Hitting, kicking, and biting may still be a problem for them.
"Some children have developed self-regulation behaviors by this age, while others need an adult to help soothe them and direct them," Elizabeth Fraley, M.Ed, the CEO of Kinder Ready Inc, a Los Angeles-based education program, explained.
Dealing with a challenging 4-year-old can be frustrating. It can make some parents wonder if any of their actions are making a difference, so it's important to be aware of how disciplinary techniques can help or harm a child. In preschool children, timeouts, for example, have been shown to change behavior up to 80 percent of the time. In fact, they are most effective for changing one specific behavior in the long term.
The key to timeouts is that they must involve making sure that as the parent, you are also removing yourself from your child. It's not so much the timeout that does the job, but the fact that your child is removed from your attention that makes this strategy so effective.
You also need to talk about the behavior after the timeout in a gentle and loving way; understand that when you first try timeouts, your child's behavior might get worse initially as they test a new boundary.
