Tantrum Help ...

Just a few helpful suggestions when your little one is trying to "rule the roost." Be time specific and tell your child WHAT YOU EXPECT OF THEM, tell them how much time they have to do this and exactly what consequence will happen if they do not comply. Also be specific with your time frame. For example, "Steven, in FIVE seconds I expect you to stop bouncing that ball and hand it over to mommy or else you will not watch T.V. for the rest of the day ... " Then begin a COUNT-DOWN so your child knows exactly how much time they have to comply. "Five-four-three-two-one..." If they do not comply, FOLLOW THRU with the consequence and begin with another one ... "Here's another chance, in FIVE seconds I expect you to stop bouncing that ball and hand it over to mommy or else you will sit in time out for X minutes ... "

Sunday night when our son refused to go to bed we did our count downs and told him what would happen. Ultimately we lost that battle and he stayed downstairs and fell asleep on the couch; however we ultimately won the war because the next day we followed through with his consequences for not going to bed in his room. No ice cream, no T.V., holding a "bit of a grudge" & his cold milk. Guess what? He went right to bed the next night and was extremely respectful to us in the morning ... happy and loving.

Sometimes some of the best consequences are those where your child loses YOUR affection for a period of time because they did not respect your parenting wishes ...
"You can drink your milk cold this time, mommy warms it up for you only when you are respectful and listen to what mommy asks you to do ..."
Remember this, your child may win the battle but you will win the war ... as a result you will have a well mannered child that respects both his parents and other authority figures.