For young kids, hitting is a way of expressing emotions. When they don’t get what they want, it’s a natural reaction for them to hit their playmate. Toddlers usually respond physically when they feel frustrated. And this can be minimized if parents are able to handle this properly.

When you see your child doing this, gently hold their hands and tell them to stop with the hitting. Don’t attempt to explain in long and winded words why this is wrong. They are likely not to listen when they are in this state. A simple “no” or “don’t” would do.

Remove your child from the situation and help him calm down. Once he is relaxed you can put him back with his p playmates, carefully watching over him. When you see that he is starting to get frustrated again, assist him with the right words to use to help him manage this. If he’s angry at another playmate for not sharing with him, teach him to say, “May I borrow please?” instead of just grabbing the item.

Never berate your child in public or hit them back yourself. There is a reason why they are expressing themselves in this manner, and you, as their parent, have to get to the bottom of this. Getting angry at their behavior only compounds their reason to hit kids more. Help them cope and eventually they will learn to stop using their hands to vent, but instead manage their anger properly.

Field trips are something kids look forward to because they get to get out of school and visit certain places with the rest of the people in their class. It’s a fun time to learn a few things. And for really small children, this trip is always a memorable one.

I remember the first time I took a field trip as a kid going into kindergarten and I can still picture the images in may head. I don’t remember having a parent with me in these trips but it’s not the case for kids today.

When I had my own children going on their trips, I always accompany them. I was there when they went to the park, to the museum, to a factory and even a trip to a city fair. It was sort of a learning experience for me as well, as I’ve never been to some of these places, which is why I have to admit that I also look forward to this.

However, there came a point when I though — when am I going to stop going on field trips with the children? At some point, the child would have to be embarrassed being with their parents on the bus with them, right?

I stopped going with my kids on field trips by the time they are 8-9 years old. But I still see many parents joining until the child is about 10 or 11. There are some schools that never allow parents at all.

At what point did you stop accompanying your kids on trips?

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A strong-willed child is a lot to handle. They refuse to submit to authority and parents think this is about becoming disobedient. But it’s more of asserting what they want. And you can turn this into a plus point for your child.

1. Resist the power struggle. Often, a strong-willed child will engage in power struggle if they can get away with it. Enforce routines so that this doesn’t escalate. Stick with schedules so that you don’t have to argue witht he kid.

2. Give the child a chance to take charge. Let them be the “boss”. If you’re going to do the groceries, for example, you can have her prepare the list of things to buy. This will make her feel empowered, as if her choices do matter in the house. And that’s very important for a strong-willed child. They need to be recognized for the things they can do.

3. Listen and listen. Often the cause of misunderstanding in every kind of relationship is that our listening skills break down. Learn to hear out your child when she is being insistent. Not only will this phase her down and you avoid a full blown power struggle, you will also see the underlying reasons for her resistence to the way you discipline or enforce rules in the house.

4. Resist the urge to punish. The more you do this, the more she will love challenging you and pushing your buttons. Instead, approach the child calmly by talking and emphatizing, and you will gain more integrity in their eyes.

This is the most dreaded part I do as a parent — preparing my children’s lunch for school. I easily run out of ideas and more often than not, just give them money for it. And it does get expensive.

The idea of packing lunch for school is to ensure that your children are eating right and not wasting money buying food that may be overpriced. In some schools, lunch are subsidized, hence it is free. But you can’t be sure about it’s nutritional value as well.

So, doing a little bit of what a friend has suggested, I’ve rounded up the kids and discussed with them what they want to bring to school for lunch. This way, I’d eliminate packing them food they won’t end up eating, which means it will just go to waste. Letting them in on the decision also helps to know the kinds of food they’d love eating. During the discussion, as parents, we can also provide inputs like why having fruits is important or why certain foods are better than the ones they actually like to pack.

Have a checklist handy when you’re discussing, so that this becomes your list for when you do the grocery and cook the meal. It should make it easy for mothers who think of what to cook next, when the kids have already said what they really want to eat.

And aside from food and drinks, make sure to also incorporate taking supplements in you kids’ diet. School can be very demanding and they may need lots of vitamins and minerals just to get through the week.