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Don‘t let child tantrums get you out of control here‘s a lot of games kids Tplay other than Ring Around the Rosie and Simon Says. One of them is the Power Play game. Nothing is required in the way of equipment or a special playing field â€"tho‘ a public place, especially one with an audience is perfect. In fact, this particular game to be really effective has to have an audience of at least one person. The game, of course, is your standard temper tantrum, the old "T.T." we all know and don‘t love all that well! Actually, there are two versions of this tantrum â€" the junior and the more sophisticated. The junior type often occurs in very small toddlers whose quick minds are often working faster than their coordination skills. They want something to come apart (or go together), and they can‘t get it to work. Because they aren‘t fully verbal and because their frustration level is often in the "danger" zone, they hoot and holler and throw themselves (or the offending object) on the floor. Parents can calmly (at least most of the time) say something like, "you‘re having a really hard time making that car fit into its little garage, aren‘t you? You can ask for help instead of getting upset. Please use your words. Can you say ‘help me!‘ " Of course, this will need to be repeated over many occasions until your little person gets the hang of it. When he does ask for help, say, "Good for you, you used your words and asked for help!" In other words, as a parent you reinforce the behavior you want to see. There‘s another twist to the junior version, and sometimes young children discover that, by tantruming, they have the power to make the adults in their lives give in to their demands. As they grow older â€" past what most of us would consider the expected age for this kind of behavior â€" they perfect the tantrum into an art form! So you find 10â€"yearâ€"olds throwing a tantrum because their parents won‘t take them to the movies when they think they should go; teens throwing a tantrum in an effort to be allowed to borrow the family car; and even adults throwâ€" ing tantrums to get their own way. As long as someone is around to give in to the display of temper and let the other person have or do what they want, then the tantrum was effective! And you can bet it‘ll be used again and again! Let‘s take an example of how a fourâ€"yearâ€"old might use a tantrum to get what they want, and some options a parent could consider using, rather than giving into the Power Play game. It goes like this: "I want a candy bar!" Of course, you and your child are in the checkout line at the Super Centre with a minimum crowd of at least 25 folks watching to see how you‘re going to handle this. You may decide to ignore this first request, but it is repeated, louder this time. "I want a candy bar. I need one. I‘m starving." You can remain calm, firm, and still friendly, and reply to your child. "I know you‘d like to have that bar. It looks so good, doesn‘t it! If To learn more strategies for handling unacceptable behavior in kids aged 4 â€" 10â€"years, consider becoming part of the Oakville Parentâ€"Child Centre‘s upcoming programs. Our sixâ€"week programs "Discipline Without Hassles" and "Siblings Without Rivalry" will be commencing this spring and for more information, please drop into the Centre, 337 Kerr Street or give us a call at 849â€"6366. ON ALL 1993 IN STOCK MODELS 336â€"7424 847â€"8551 * 2379 Lakeshore Rd. W., Oakville 1 Block East of Bronte Road Home Leisure