Mom's Secrets

Do you have any secrets that have helped you to handle your kids?

I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours. ;)

Below, you will find my tricks of the trade. My one liners for handling the daily complaints and confrontations. My wild cards for parenting my kids. Keep in mind, my oldest is only six. So this stuff is for that age and younger. Oh, and nearly all of these ideas I have adapted from other moms.

Whining: Saying, "I can't understand/help you when you talk like that."

Tantrums: Ignoring.

General freaking out: Acknowledging and then explaining, "You can't act that way even if you're frustrated."

Fighting: Have the kids go outside and run laps around the house. This is my favorite tip from a very wise mom I know.

Sharing: If we continue to fight over the same toy, it will be put in toy jail. (And why is it always the cheap toy from a Happy Meal that they all want?)

Irreverence at church: A little something we like to call Reverence Training. For every minute they're not reverent at church, they have to be reverent at home afterwards. This means they sit quietly and still with their arms folded for 15 minutes (or however long they were goofing off at church).

When a stubborn toddler won't leave: If you're at a friend's house or somewhere in public and your little one doesn't want to follow, I say "Ok, Bye Andrew." He gets a little nervous and follows me almost every time. So did my older kids.

Cleaning up your messes: I tell them, "Mommies are not maids. They're mommies. And if mommies have to spend all their time cleaning up your messes, then they can't be good mommies. And then there won't be any time left for us to do fun things together."

Tattling: There's a difference between tattling and reporting. If someone or something is going to get hurt, then please report it to me. Otherwise, I don't want to hear about it.

Car safety: My kids like to take off their seat belts as we're arriving at a destination, but before I've stopped the car. I call out "seat belt check!" And whoever has their seat belt on gets a little treat. (Really little, like a smartie or a sticker.)

Safety minute: At the beginning of our weekly Family Night, we take a minute to talk about safety. We call this our Safety Minute. We discuss personal safety, school safety, friend safety, outside safety, fire safety, etc. We share scenarios and role play. This has helped us to have an open dialogue about how to always be safe, even when mom and dad aren't around.

When you're desperate: Candy.

So, what are some of your favorite tips as moms? Your no fail responses or solutions?

(Insert deep breath here...)

I am asking because my Andrew is an increasing challenge for me. I'm at a loss. All the stuff that usually works with my others isn't working with him. If I warn him, it's a joke. When I give him a time out, it doesn't work. The only thing that really gets him to stop is if I threaten to buckle him in his car seat and drive through the car wash! See how much he hates it?

Any tips for really difficult two year olds, besides just waiting for the phase to pass?