Don't give your kid a menu if you've already ordered what the dinner's going to be and there's no choice. When my daughter says, I don't want to go to school today, and she's crying, I believe her. No sense in asking her what her opinion is. You see parents trying to sort of alter their children's utility functions at 730 in the morning.
Don Cox of Boston College talks with Russ Roberts about how creating incentives can ease daily life with toddlers and young children.