Abstract
Shepherding a son or daughter through the “terrible twos” is difficult for all parents. But when a child enters that rebellious period at the same time the family is coping with other major upheavals¬—in the author’s case, the arrival of a severely premature newborn with medical issues—parents can face even more stress. Through a formal self-management project using the techniques of self-monitoring, as well as positive self-talk, new self-instructions, and a developing arsenal of new disciplinary and distractionary tactics, the author successfully reduced the frequency with which she loses patience and yells at her son. Additional benefits of the project, which could be fairly easily replicated by others dealing with similar parenting issues, include much-increased self-efficacy and somewhat improved behaviour from the child.
