KELLY BROWN Mum's the Word...You don't need to be Supermum '“ it's just plain common sense
There are so many books out there telling how to be a great parent it would make your head spin if you tried to digest them all.
Ten years ago the bible for bringing up your baby was Gina Ford with her contented baby and toddler books.
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Hide AdBut today the undoubted queen bee of advice on how to parent a young child is Supernanny Jo Frost, who has a whole generation of parents using the naughty step. Every now and again my husband and I will stick Supernanny on the television to get a few tips.
It also helps reassure us we are not doing a bad job at all as we watch other parents struggle with their little ones.
A recent episode was a case in point with an American couple whose three-year-old boy behaved better than their six-year-old boy who threw a toddler-style temper tantrum when he didn’t get his own way.
Every time they walked past a toy shop the boys expected to go in and be bought something.
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Hide AdAnd every night the kids would wake up and climb into bed with mum and dad.
Now I don’t wish to sound harsh, but by husband and I were horrified these parents had let it get that far.
We felt terrible one night a couple of months ago when our little boy wanted to come into our bed but we refused to let him despite his tears.
And despite feeling awful for a night, it did the trick and he has never asked or expected to sleep in with us.
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Hide AdTemper tantrums are dealt with by distraction or ignoring him until he cottons on he won’t always get his own way.
I hope we are good parents – juggling all the fun bits with the setting of the boundaries.
And our gorgeous little munchkin is happy and still gives mummy and daddy the very best cuddles.