Give me a hug!!
This is a standard phrase in our house nowadays :). Propagated big time by S who thinks this is the perfect turnaround to when I'm "really" angry with him about something! In the middle of the tantrum (his or mine?!) he'll suddenly realize there's no point protesting further and start saying "I'll do it(eat/write/whatever!), but only if you give me a hug!".
At first this used to irritate me no end - "What? Stop in the middle of my anger and give him a hug? - what sort of message is that sending? That he can do all that he wants and just hug me and get away with it?!"
Well apparently I have no choice in the matter - having realized that giving a hug is a lot better than dealing with the tantrums that are sure to follow if my anger persists! So hopefully the only message i'm giving out is that I'm willing to compromise with a hug in the middle of the worst tantrums :).
Of course D has not been far behind in figuring out the effectiveness of this strategy ;).
