"Naughtiness is a child's protest against a perceived injustice."

EdmontonSun.com
www.edmontonsun.com

quote below, bold added:

LOS ANGELES -- Nanny McPhee, a dark yet delicious children's movie, deals boldly with an age-old question in parenting: What do you do with naughty children?

In life, writer-actress Emma Thompson admits she does not have a clue. She even confesses to falling into a total emotional collapse when wrestling with the demons which occasionally inhabit her own spirited daughter, six-year-old Gaia (whom she shares with second husband, actor Greg Wise).

"Generally speaking," Thompson says with a laugh, "I often will end up weeping on the floor saying, 'I don't know how to discipline you! I don't know what to do now!'

"And my daughter has come up to me, looked at me weeping, sitting on the floor, given me a hankie and said, 'Let's have a game of cards.' I've also taught her how to make bloody marys now, so she knows kind of how to calm me down and it's all right now. Actually, in all seriousness, I think it's very difficult to know (what to do)."

In the movies, however, Thompson's title character in Nanny McPhee has some answers. They involve magic but also rely on human ingenuity, a child's cleverness and simple but forthright communication between generations.

Thompson says there is also one truth that unites the seven very naughty Brown children in the movie and most naughty children in real life. "Parents always think it's the kids' fault. If they're naughty, it's the kids' fault. Not true! Children generally are not naughty for no reason."

Those reasons, she says, usually involve an adult who does something, says something or ignores the children when they do and say things that demand close attention. Naughtiness is a child's protest against a perceived injustice, Thompson says. So acting out is sometimes a good thing.