and you don't give a bratty kid a cookie to shut him up.

Same basic principle.

Every time she acted up and demanded something, my wife and I would say to her:

"What do you get when you have the gimme's? Nothing. You get nothing."

No one has apparently impressed that lesson on Trump yet.

By being a bully, using the courts as a cudgel, and never backing down from demands, life has taught him that he can get away with it; and in the relatively rare cases where he can't, he can blow it all up and walk away anyway.

Even if it encourages Trump to do it again, if it were the RIGHT thing to do, Dems should have, and would have, done it from the outset. A shutdown doesn't change the fact that a wall is inefficient and expensive.

Lordy Lordy he’s wonderful! He’s probably looking at this as a responsible parent would. When the spoiled brat child acts up, you DO NOT give him his way. That only reinforces and rewards the bad behavior.

You. CANNOT. Do. That.

Or - you cannot do that AND call yourself a good or responsible parent.

You MUST check that bad behavior. Immediately put a check on it. Immediately impose limits, restrictions, and consequences for it.

You CANNOT, and SHOULD NOT, EVER reward or reinforce bad behavior. You’ll only encourage more of it.

DT has NEVER in his life faced consequences. Throwing a tantrum has always worked for him. Well, the Democratic Sheriffs are in town two days from now.

My first child was easy at age two. No tantrums. So I thought I was a superior mother. HA! Then I had my second child and she ran me ragged. I did know that when she threw one of her epic tantrums, to pick her up, place her gently on her back in the middle of the rug in the living room, allow her to scream her head off, and tell her to come back in the kitchen when she was finished. TA DA! It worked. She blew off steam, calmed herself down and no payoff. (I have to thank my wise older sister for this advice.)

So Donnie? Go ahead and scream your head off on the floor of the Oval Office! We're still not gonna pay for your stupid wall.

And calimary? Happy New Year! And thank you for all of your wonderful posts throughout 2018. Onward to 2019 with courage and DU.

We got a tip from a marriage-and-family counselor that we came to know as “the position.”

“The position” is what you do with a small child who’s throwing a fit. First, you remove the child from wherever it is or whatever occasion it is. Then you find a clear place where you can both sit down alone together on the floor. YOU, with your back up against the wall - for support. You position the child in your lap as you sit cross-legged in the floor. You maneuver one or both of your legs so that the child’s legs are blocked from kicking and flailing. Gently and carefully, though!

As the child is seated in your lap that way, you bring your arms around front, to contain the child’s upper body. Hold him/her close but not forcefully. Don’t squeeze. Not tight! As you hold the child close to your chest, your face will naturally be close to his/her ear. As you contain the little one’s mad energy and screaming and flailing, you can then murmur into his/her ear quiet words of calming, gentle correction, checking the out-of-control behavior and bringing the heat down.

You CONTAIN the bad behavior. You don’t constrict. You DO NOT restrain so tightly that they can’t breathe comfortably or that it becomes painful. There is no force applied. Just your larger size, longer reach, and greater strength wisely and gently applied. It will allow for a little movement as the child starts to give up and calm down and maybe switch position slightly.

I had to take my then-toddler son out of some kid’s birthday party, out on the sidewalk in front, in one case. As a matter of fact, that’s the only case I can recall where I needed to use “the position.” It takes a few minutes. But eventually, as you stay strong and gently resolute, you outlast ‘em. Besides, by then, they’ve long ago lost the center-of-attention disruptor reinforcement, as well as all the space in the middle of everything that they were dominating mating. You CONTAIN them. They lose interest and run out of energy to keep flailing, and it fades as they forget whatever it was that they were throwing their shit-fit about.

And when they’re quieted down and returned to normal, and you’ve quietly talked to them through the worst of it, it’s over. And you get up again and escort the little one back to the party.

But it’s always supposed to be done gently, quietly, carefully, lovingly. You contain them physically, so they can’t hurt themselves, or anybody else, or you. All they can do is run out of steam, calm down, and give up (or lose interest).

It works. And doesn’t leave a mark. Either physically OR emotionally. It’s one of THE BEST child management/behavior mod pieces of advice either of us ever received.

I'll keep that in mind for when I have grandchildren. What's interesting is that my intense two year old has become the most thoughtful, kind, empathetic adult. And a Democrat. Of course!

When he became unreasonable, I would just tell him that I loved him dearly ...

And then, I would say

“Sweetie, you need to calm down ... you need to control you, or you will leave me no choice but to control you and you will probably not like my decision more than your own”

He always chose to control himself, rather than allow me to make his choices.

As he has grown into a lovely young man, I see his self control help him make the best decisions

This! We should never, ever submit to his childish demands or even engage with him when he is throwing one of his tantrums. He needs to learn that we aren't afraid of him and that he won't get what he wants from us by acting this way.

I don't think this is a person who has ever compromised. He has only bullied and threatened people until they finally allowed him to have his way and he thinks he can continue to do this in government. We need to stand strong and show him that it isn't going to work this time.

a "no negotiations" policy for the House. It's a waste of time to negotiate with a pathological liar.

I'm glad to hear him say that... I hope other Dems are making that inconvenient truth known.

all Miller's machinations and cleverness will not get him out of this. he will have to cave or lose his already shrinking base.

If I were the Democratic President-elect, I would not take an “no” from the Right Honorable Mr. Lieu on the appointment.

number of immigrants crossing the border down nearly 90% since 2000, etc. - if our Congresscritters stick to the facts and bludgeon the American public with them it makes King tRumpys arguments look as stupid as they are.

Dem pols and Dems in general need to do a much better job of educating the public when they get the mic. A few facts stated simply every now and again without giving them a college level lecture, because you'll lose the average joe.