"I'm telling!" may be the most annoying phrase that your child emits, particularly around the preschool age. But tattling usually boils down to one motivation: getting attention. Excessive tattling usually happens when kids aren't mature enough to settle conflicts among themselves, and that's normal for younger children. They look to adults to help when they know something's not right. Encouraging and helping kids solve the problem themselves while acting as a mediator can help facilitate independence and reduce incidences of tattling. {relatedarticles}Many moms say conflicts arise when kids are forced to share toys - "Johnny won't share!" might be a familiar refrain. Ask the snitch what outcome he might like to see in a situation like this. "Well, what can we do to help Johnny share? Maybe we should use the egg timer?" Sometimes kids tattle to show you that they know the rules and are trying to enforce them. For example, a kid might tell on his brother when he catches him sneaking an extra cookie.