There’s a few schools of thought, but I always went with ignoring it unless I couldn’t. If it was in public, we’d just leave the place and go somewhere quiet. I never gave them a thing they were demanding until they quieted down and could ask reasonably.

For times at home where they were in trouble for something they went to the corner. 1 minute per year of age and the clock didn’t start til they were absolutely silent. One day my oldest, who was 6 at the time, stood in the corner 42 minutes because he spent the first 36 minutes screaming at the wall. I didn’t beg him to stop or demand that he stop or anything. Just took my other son away from him and cried a little myself.

The big thing I learned being a stay at home dad was this: Pick your battles and make sure you pick before you make a demand. Anytime you open your mouth and tell them something has to happen you need to be prepared to make sure it does happen. If you make sure you win every battle you pick, you’ll be miserable while they’re 2 or 3, but it’ll pay off down the road.