Two of my Daughter's in Law independently got books that in essence say "Never Say No!" to your kid or you'll permanently destroy their emotional well being. I only laughed a little as their little monste... little independent entities enter their terrible two's where the primary word in their vocabulary is "NO!"
Of course in conjunction with this is the never spank your child but reason with them with college level psychology to guide their behavior movement.
"You see little super special Johnny, due to the physics of mass in motion which entails that it will not stop unless met by an opposite and equal force; by placing yourself in the path of said trajectory, you will end up in a flattened condition on the road surface. This is why Mommy insists that you seriously consider staying close by my side in the area designated for vehicle parking that surrounds these retail establishments."
The net result, little defiant super special Johnny proceeds to become an arrogant speed bump.
In the olden days we simply gave a harmless, but attention generating swat to a well padded portion of the child's anatomy and said, "I told you to stay right here by me. You're going to get hit by a truck."
Such an improvement that we have moved on from those dark days of discipline and ancient practices into the gleaming light of science.
