We are only human and sometimes a child's misbehaviour can be the last straw.

What you must remember is to aim your anger at the child's action, not at the child. Make sure your child understands that you do not like what he or she did, not that you do not like him.

If you do blow up and lose your temper, tell your child afterwards that you are sorry. Children have feelings too. You cannot always control what you feel. But you can control what you do about your feelings.

How about Spanking? Spanking may seem to get you some peace but it only works for a short time.

Spanking does not teach good behaviour. Spanking teaches children: To be afraid of and to dislike the person who hit them.

To be afraid of adults.

That it's OK to hit people when they do something that you don't like.

That it's OK for someone big to hit someone little.

If children are afraid that you will spank them they will do what you want as long as you are around, but may do exactly what you don't want the minute you're not watching.

No matter how well you teach your children to behave, there will be times when their behaviour concerns you. It makes things easier and saves time if you can figure out WHY they are acting that way and WHAT you can do about it.

One of the common behaviour concerns of parents is ''whining''.

What can you do when your child whines? First remember that children may whine for several reasons, such as feeling worried or insecure; because they are tired or because they have learned that this is a good way to get attention.

So what can you do? Make sure your child gets enough rest; ignore it and when the whining stops, give attention; and teach your child better ways to get your attention.

You may be able to solve a problem without spanking by remembering some of the tips for encouraging good behaviour, like ignoring some behaviours, and giving your child attention for good behaviours. If your efforts are not working.

Call us at the Child Development Project.

Remember....it takes hard work and hard thinking to be a good parent.

Children learn by trying and doing, and trying again. So do parents.

Nobody's perfect.