--- title: Why I Struggled to Discipline My Kids During the Pandemic description: When the world is in constant crisis, it's hard not to give in to the demands of your children, just to give them some joy in the moment. canonical: https://time.com/6183167/disciplining-kids-today-parenting/ author: Julia Fine article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-06-08T11:00:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T14:19:46.499Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Disciplining Your Toddler at the End of the World og:description: The future is coming, whether or not they get to watch TV at 3 a.m. og:url: https://time.com/6183167/disciplining-kids-today-parenting/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa54ddaf14e2b3ab/698a3297929fad2a39bf8afd/ChildFine-Essay.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: ChildFine-Essay og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Disciplining Your Toddler at the End of the World twitter:description: The future is coming, whether or not they get to watch TV at 3 a.m. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa54ddaf14e2b3ab/698a3297929fad2a39bf8afd/ChildFine-Essay.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Disciplining Your Toddler at the End of the World > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs takes readers inside the newsroom, revealing the journalists, ideas and editorial choices behind the stories shaping the global conversation. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=3ab84629-0a49-4886-b3c9-ea07cc661681&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 430,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 50.7% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Sam Jacobs, Editor-in-Chief | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership Globally minded knowledge seekers. Readers who turn to journalism to understand the world, with meaningful concentrations among educators, students, media professionals, civic institutions and knowledge workers. ### TIME Inside TIME: key statements * Inside TIME is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * Inside TIME is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=3ab84629-0a49-4886-b3c9-ea07cc661681&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/subscribe?i=3ab84629-0a49-4886-b3c9-ea07cc661681&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is Inside TIME? Inside TIME is a twice-weekly newsletter written by TIME Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs. It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. It reaches 430,000 subscribers with a 50.7% open rate as of August 2026. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Julia Fine](https://time.com/author/julia-fine/) ## Julia Fine Jun 8, 2022 11:00 AM UTC  illustration by Giulia Neri for TIME by [Julia Fine](https://time.com/author/julia-fine/) ## Julia Fine Jun 8, 2022 11:00 AM UTC In early March 2020, at five months pregnant, I transitioned my 2.5-year-old from a crib to a toddler bed. He was going to be a big brother and change was inevitable, though mostly I was tired of hefting him over the railing, which required a bending motion that encouraged my second-trimester heartburn. He’d always struggled with transitions, hadn’t slept through the night until close to 2, so I was ready for a battle, and determined not to let my own feelings about the seismic shift he didn’t know was coming affect my resolve. My husband and I would be firm and kind, and our son would ultimately learn—if it took a few nights of screaming and tears, we’d suffer through them. This was how we’d worked through his other anxieties, like having his fingernails clipped and being dropped off at day care, the sort of short-term pain, long-term gain that helped us all grow. Then, of course, came the pandemic. Rather than tucking him in and leaving the room, I found myself sleeping night after night on his floor, increasingly uncomfortable as I approached my due date, but convinced that he needed me and this was for the best. I took a similar approach to television and treats. After a strict one-a-day rule for fruit snacks, I began saying yes whenever he asked for them. They brought him joy, and who was I to deny him that at a time when he couldn’t go to school, see his grandparents, or have playdates? I’d been worried about adding a sibling, but now his whole world had been upended, as had mine. I promised myself that when this was over, I’d return to the discipline and structure that I knew helped him thrive. For time being, letting my toddler win our battles could be a pandemic band-aid. **Read More:** [_How I Lost Myself to Motherhood_](https://time.com/6177113/motherhood-sacrifice-roe-v-wade/) Flash forward to 2022\. We are [still in a pandemic](https://time.com/6170489/covid-19-pandemic-not-over-feelings/), and my daughter, born in June 2020, has entered her own toddlerhood. Last night she was awake at 3 a.m., crying because she wanted to watch a show. As it happened, I, too, had been awake for much of the night, reading about the [leaked Supreme Court opinion](https://time.com/6172956/consequences-overruling-roe-wade/) and how she might lose her basic civil rights. About[ climate disasters](https://time.com/6130470/climate-change-2021-build-back-better/) that will have devastating impacts in her lifetime. About racist manifestos and [mass shootings](https://time.com/6178803/buffalo-shooting-victim-katherine-massey/). About another spike in COVID-19 cases. About the 19 students and 2 teachers [gunned down at a school in Uvalde, Texas.](https://time.com/6181718/uvalde-shooting-grieving-community/) When I went to her, my instinct was to coddle, to indulge. I wanted to say yes to another hug, a midnight book, to spend all night rocking with her in the glider, her little hands clutching my hair. Look at what she’s losing. Why not give her the gift of right now? Why not let her have these small things? Over the past two years, I’ve said yes to hundreds of extra desserts, at least 20 new Hot Wheels cars from the dollar bin at the pharmacy, 20 more minutes at the playground that inevitably lead to naptime meltdowns when we’re thrown off our schedule. I always knew better, but in those moments all I wanted was for my children to be happy. Then I thought about the cavities the dentist found in my now-5-year-old son’s teeth because I’d stopped fighting him on late-night gummy vitamins and flossing. **Read More:** [_The Quiet Ache of Children’s Pandemic Birthdays_](https://time.com/6144397/children-birthdays-covid-19-pandemic/) It’s one thing to give in to a toddler’s desires in unprecedented times, but what are we to do when [there’s no end to the unprecedented](https://time.com/6102019/covid-19-hope-for-kids/)? I’ve been in crisis mode for my daughter’s entire life, but my adult feelings about social collapse don’t correspond to what my children need from me. Little kids need to be fed and kept from danger, they need to test and learn boundaries, they need to feel love. We’re the ones with nuanced, complex emotions about global events. We’re the ones processing our guilt and fear and helplessness. Of course acknowledging my small children’s feelings and helping them work through them is important, but there’s a danger in projecting my own disappointments, or even successes, onto them. Yes, my toddler is frustrated. But it isn’t because of [Alito’s draft decision on _Roe v. Wade_](https://time.com/6173019/supreme-court-leak-roe-v-wade-abortion/)—it’s because she’s 22 months old and doesn’t want to go to sleep. As a parent, I need to recognize that doing right by my kids won’t always align with what makes me feel slightly better about the world burning around them. This has always been a truth of parenthood, but as the flames inch ever closer, we are grappling with increasingly complicated feelings about the inheritance we’ll leave. I’m trying to remind myself it’s alright to disappoint my children, it’s alright to _parent_ them. The future is coming, whether or not they get to watch TV at 3 a.m. The only way I’ll teach them the resilience to face our world and the empathy to change things for the better is by saying no even when I wish they could have everything. “It’s nighttime, and at nighttime we sleep,” I told my daughter last night as she demanded _Daniel Tiger_. I gave her a hug, as much to soothe my own nerves as to soothe hers, and put her down. “I hear you,” I said through her tantrum until she had settled and I could go back to my own bed. She won’t remember the tears, yet hopefully this lesson will stick with us both. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6183167/disciplining-kids-today-parenting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6183167/disciplining-kids-today-parenting/"},"headline":"Disciplining Your Toddler at the End of the World","datePublished":"2022-06-08T11:00:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T14:19:46.499Z","description":"When the world is in constant crisis, it's hard not to give in to the demands of your children, just to give them some joy in the moment.","url":"https://time.com/6183167/disciplining-kids-today-parenting/","keywords":["Family"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa54ddaf14e2b3ab/698a3297929fad2a39bf8afd/ChildFine-Essay.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Fine","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-fine/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa54ddaf14e2b3ab/698a3297929fad2a39bf8afd/ChildFine-Essay.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ChildFine-Essay","caption":"","creditText":"illustration by Giulia Neri for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/family/","name":"Family"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6183167/disciplining-kids-today-parenting/","name":"Disciplining Your Toddler at the End of the World"}}]}] ```