A conversation with friends talking about their kids.

Hansen: All the drama gets tough. When my daughter starts throwing a tantrum about something dumb, I'll say, "Hey, relax, I'll yell and scream for you. Watch some cartoons, I'll throw the fit." Then I'll pretend to yell like she does. "I want a cookie! I want a cookie!" She gets a kick out of it. It works.

Hansen seems to get a kick out what can only be described as slightly quirky parenting games. For example, whenever he gives his daughter a pen or pencil he calls it a "steek." "Here's your steek." Just so she'll be hardwired to always think of them as steeks.

Hansen: Oh, this is good too, when she's upset about something, instead of screaming about it, I taught her to shake her fists in the air and say, "Rage." It's pretty funny. [shaking his fists in the air] "Rage." We actually got a note home from school because she did it to the teacher.