Consistency is key.
Exactly.
That is the hardest part because for those who don't have children or who don't get it - children will test you more than once about the exact same thing.
I think too many parents get to the place where they're thinking "how many times do I have to tell them they can't do "x"? and the parent just gives up. Then they have to start over preventing the child from doing "x" or the child simply does "x" from then on.
YEP...."Consistency"......when my son was young....when I said "NO" he KNEW I meant it! And, I don't remember spanking him...except maybe a little swat once or twice when he was under 2.
Consistency is key.
I totally agree. We get comments on how well behaved our children are all the time. Our in-laws couldn't believe that our children sat still in church. (these are the ones whose boy tossed a restaraunt buffet salad with his hands and sat on the dining tables when we went out to eat). You have to have your kids in line by aged 5 or you will never have control of them. (that is my theory). And you have to do whatever you threaten them with or they won't respect you.
Amazingly enough, consistent training techniques, with both appropriate positive and negative reinforcement, used for dogs and puppies, works equally well with children.
...and if you haven't gotten your child to behave by age 5 or 6, at least not like the wild animals like I see everywhere, that child is in for a tough 40 years until peers and bosses at work get a shot at staightening out the parents failings. Age 8 is too, too late for easy parenting from that point on. So goes my 3 kids, now adults, on the easy side for me.