Valerie Sweet, mother of two, swears that purchasing an inexpensive portable audio cassette player with headphones for her 3 1/2 year-old daughter, Grace, did the trick for her. "We bought it along with several children's music and storybook tapes and reserved it for errands only. She kept the headphones on and listened to her music in every store and actually looked forward to shopping with me."

Katherine Hutt Puschel, communications consultant and mother to Billy, 9 and Katie, 5, would join her children in their efforts by getting down on the floor with them and creating a tantrum of her own. "The sight of Mommy flailing around was almost always enough to get them giggling. Soon we'd both be hysterical with laughter." She empathetically adds, "Of course, big hugs of reconciliation end each session so they understand we are not making fun of them. My daughter knows the routine so well that she will sometimes ask for 'help getting my control back.'"

Regardless of your own tried-and-true strategies for taming your toddler's tantrums, most parents can rest assured that these pint-sized explosions are a temporary and very normal part of growing up. With a little ingenuity, patience, and above all, respect for our children, most of us will get through this phase and our toddlers will emerge with a clear understanding of what's expected of them.

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