Here is an example of my ex wife's expertise with unruly kids.

We took in a little girl who had been beaten and sexually abused by her relatives, mainly, her MOTHER!

We were having dinner in a nice restaurant, and the child, who was three at the time, went charging up and down the isle bothering people and generally making a nuisance of herself. No amount of talking did a bit of good, so my wife held her and looked directly into her eyes and said "You have a choice, either sit here with us, or, be put into the car and wait for us to finish. Which will it be"?

Of course, the child didn't like either option, so she continued to raise hell. Wife took her by the hand and said "Ok, you made your choice." and took her to the car and locked the doors.
Where we were sitting we could see the car, otherwise I would have had a real problem with leaving her alone there.
About ten minutes later, wife went out and brought the child in. She sat with us and acted like a civilized human from then on.
We continued this "choice" thing for the whole time we had her.

I was amazed to see just how easy it was for someone who knew what they were doing. Somehow, people get the idea that they automatically know how to raise kids, but that just isn't so. We have to learn.

One question to ask yourself is, what is most important here, to get the child to behave without a fuss, or to be in charge and break their spirit by bullying. If winning is more important than teaching by example, go back and read Guest 11:46.