Do you want green beans or carrots for dinner? That is the premise of Love and Logic, by Jim Fay and Charles Fay, Ph.D. Give your child choices, enforce consequences, and never lose your cool. I gave it a try.

First, offer choices. Noah, do you want to wear your sandals or your sneakers today? My toddler chose sandals. Then he helped me put them on. The Love and Logic theory is that if you offer a few choices, you put the decision-making into the hands of the child and take away the opportunity to protest. It seems to work in our house.