All children have their moments - temper tantrums in the supermarket, stubbornness when they don't like what's for dinner, crankiness when they're overtired - but some of them seem to have developed their resistant behavior in the womb and are ready for fighting from birth. Call them strong-willed or call them spirited, the good news is, strong doesn't have to mean bad, and there are many ways to parent children with definite opinions without letting everyday clashes become the norm. In The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Raising a Strong-Willed Child, parents learn how to capitalize on their child's strengths, maximizing their good days and making their bad days more manageable. It helps them better parent the child they have, instead of trying to turn him into the child they think he's supposed to be. The authors share ideas and techniques to make the everyday and the special occasions more pleasant. Above all, The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Raising a Strong-Willed Childis a manual on how to manage, and celebrate, more. The catch-all parenting philosophies that seem to work for most children cannot be effectively applied to the strong-willed ones. Because they aremore, they needmore. Who is the strong-willed child? How using empathy first and discipline second changes perspectives. Exercises and strategies that really work to calm toddler tantrums. Ways to deal with hot-button times of the day - wake-up, meals, and bedtime Bringing teachers on board to ease transitions from home to school to home again Raging hormones - helping the strong-willed child through adolescence. What to do if the something more is something MORE - dealing with health and safety issues, learning and emotional disabilities, and other issues. Mary-Michael Levitt, Ed.S., LPC, LM was the strong-willed child in her family of six children. Today Mary is director of the Riverview Counseling Center in Hackettstown, NJ. She is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Licensed Professional Counselor. Mary has worked as a Mental Health Services Director for elementary, high school, and university students. She is currently a New Jersey Disaster Response Crisis Counselor and a member of the Morris County Mental Health Emergency Call-Up Roster, as well as Red Cross Mental Health Disaster Action Team member. Helen Coronato is a former middle school English teacher and children's librarian. Currently, she is a freelance writer, talk show host, and full-time mother. Her articles have appeared in such publications as Parentguide Newsand International Doula Magazine.Helen's monthly parenting columns, Rearing Readers- Everyday Ideas for Encouraging Literacycan be seen at the popular e-zine www.momready.com; while her Stories to Grow on- Picture Books for All Ages and Stages is published at the nationally renowned site www.holisiticmoms.org. Helen is the author of Eco-Friendly Families and The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Reading with Your Child.She and her family divide their time between homes in New Jersey and Wyoming.