Why you shouldn’t ignore it : telling your child two, three, even four times to do something she doesn’t want to do, such as get into the car or pick up her toys, sends the message that it’s okay to disregard you and that she—not you—is running the show. “reminding your child again and again just trains her to wait for the next reminder rather than to pay attention to you the first time you tell her something,” says psychologist kevin leman, ph.d., author of first-time mom: getting off on the right foot – from birth to first grade. “tuning you out is a power play, and if you allow the behavior to continue, your child is likely to become defiant and controlling.”