"If you're happy and you know it stomp your feet."

When two-year-old Nathan is not happy. he's also been known to stomp his feet.

Angela Boal, Nathan's mother, says, "instead of thinking of it as the terrible two's, we're turning it into a positive and calling it the terrific twos."

At 27 months old, Nathan is testing his limits. Along with that, he also tests his parents especially with the occasional temper tantrum.

Angela comments, "if you're reacting to it, then he knows he's getting some attention from it. And by that, it's going to actually make i worse."

Experts say don't sweat it. It's totally normal for toddlers to test you. And, there are some simple tips to help parents guide the way.

"It's actually a natural developmental task for kids to be challenging and kind of coming up agianst limits and boundaries, " says Parenting Educator Colleen Wittig. "We can't change that, but we can change how we deal with it."

Parenting educator Colleen Wittig works with Family Services of Greater Vancouver. She says take note of your day, it's a warning sign if you say "no" more than you say "yes."

Experts say distraction works wonders, even putting them onto another activity. Also, offer your toddler choices like what to do that day or even what to wear.

Wittig says, "Try to give them a feeling of power."

And an ounce of praise can go along way.

"Catch your child being good as much as possible, so that you're teaching them that being good will get more attention."

And Nathan's mother offers some other good advice. Make sure your spouse and other relatives are on the same page, "He knows the minute we're not consistant, that's it. We're in trouble."

And another tip. Experts say even using humour to diffuse the situation might be another way to avoid going head-to-head with your tempermental toddler.

Thursday March 16, 2006