Parenting Pointers: Defusing Tantrums

Here are some tips adapted from Parenting magazine to defuse tantrums:

- Have your child clap his or her hand over the mouth and "hold the yell" until you are outside. "I can't hear you here with all these people around."
- Tell your child, "The tantrum place today is in aisle 12/in front of McDonald's/by the blue wall. You can't yell here. Wait until we get there."
- Have them feel important by holding something special for you as a big helper.
- "Anyone yelling gets flipped upside down/tickled/spun around." - and make good on it!
- If your child is really at the end of his or her rope, acknowledge that patience has run out and remove him or her from the situation.

Thrifty Thursday: Saving at Half.com

Books are a pretty easy thing to give as gifts. And most people by now know that you can usually find great deals at Half.com - but there are ways to make the system work even better for you.

First of all, sign up for an online rebate company like Big Crumbs, Cashbaq, Ebates, or Mr. Rebates and always do your online shopping through those sites. You'll earn anywhere from 1%-30%, and it does add up!

Then, minimize your shipping cost. Choose a book to purchase, and find someone who's selling it for cheap - who also is selling a lot of other books (there are lots of these types of sellers who have hundreds or thousands of books for sale). Then go to that person's list and choose the rest of your books from there. You may not always find every book exactly on your list, but you're likely to find books with similar subjects or authors. This saves on shipping - plus these mega-sellers usually have the cheapest prices on books anyway!


This tip was submitted by Claire and adapted for this post.