[SandiC.]

Andrea, it sounds to me like you are right on target. keep up the good work. It sure takes endless energy to stick to your guns and when we parents are tired, or frustrated, its hard to stick to what we think is the right thing to do and just give in. I've sure done that a few times.

[sheriL]

Zaz, we had a biter too, it's definitely not entertaining, and to tell you the truth, I can't say that anything we tried really "worked", he just outgrew it. Take comfort in the fact that you probably don't have to worry about her biting her fellow kindergarteners in a couple of years!
BTW, I agree, it is so nice sometimes to here that others have the days where they just want someone else to come and make it all better. There's nothing better than being a mom, but I really don't think there's anything harder either, and I think there's lots of us who have days where we just want to run away from home ourselves!

[kerryveale]

What encouraging messages you all have given! I just wanted to share that children change--we need to remember that in the difficult stages as well as the good stages--my DD strong willed, was Salutatorian of her 8th grade class with a 4.0, and then whew, along came her freshman year in high school. All I can say is, we survived, and I think she didn't ruin her chances for college, as she ended the year with a 3.42 (thanks to friends helping her study and a very strict behavioral contract that we drafted, re-drafted many times, and put up on the pantry door so that EVERYONE knew the rules). She knows I'm absent-minded, so if it's written down, she can't come back and say, "you didn't tell me that!"
P.S. As your children grow and change, you may have to change the consequences for behavior. We found, as our daughter is a cheerleader, that taking away hair products, or her hair straightening iron, or an item of clothing, was effective. (The process for taking away and earning back was all described in detail in the behavioral contract.)

And Zaz, I can totally relate--I was a very compliant child, and it has been a real stretch for me to parent a strong willed child effectively and not get run over! Hang in there, sweetie!

Mel, I love that you mentioned James Dobson's book. I really appreciate his work at Focus on the Family; in fact, I wrote a story with photos that was published in the Focus on the Family magazine, in 1989, I think it was. It was about a family reunion that I attended, and then they asked me to be on the radio show as well! (my only claim to fame, but it was really fun--I received letters from all over the U.S. and from other countries, too)

[Scrappy_Mummy]

We have supernanny over here, the one with Jo Frost right? I'm totallt prepared to use the naughty step if needs be, I'm completly anti-smacking and will use every other tecnique other than smacking.

[scraphappen]

her show totally makes me love my kids more. No matter how bad I think it is here somewhere there are much worse kids and my kids aren't really all that bad!