When young children are acting up and need some time to sit and think about their behavior and actions, parents often plop them into a time out. For those who are unfamiliar with the time out process, it is placing a child in one designated spot, usually a chair set aside somewhere away from distractions, yet still near the parent so that he or she can still keep an eye on the child, and the child sits in said chair usually on a minute to year ratio; meaning that if the child is five years old and is sent to a time out, he or she would sit for five minutes, a nine year old child would sit for nine minutes, and so forth.

Putting a child in time out gives him or her the opportunity to calm down and collect oneself. Often times children can become so worked up, that they forget what it is they were upset about initially, and are just letting out raw emotion. Time outs give them a place to sit and get it out, and then get it together so that the parents can have a quick and poignant dialog about the child's behavior and what is, and is not acceptable.

Time outs work wonders for parents as well. No, you don't have to haul your butt to the special chair, but taking time to cool off when you become angry is the best thing that you can do, especially during the holiday season. With the stress of holiday parties, shopping, decorations, cards and everything else that goes along with the holiday season, parents can find themselves more grouchy than usual, and more apt to get angry over things that normally wouldn't bother them.

Taking time to remove yourself from the situation, calm down, and really think about what is going on can save adoptive stepparents from countless, control battles and petty arguments that will end in nothing but frustration for all involved. Usually once that parent takes the time to calm down, he or she will find that what has annoyed them, really isn't all that bad. It may still require a sit down with the child, and a talk about the events that unfolded leading up to the parent getting upset, but usually will not require the amount of anger and emotion that the parent initially felt.

Sometimes doing a physical activity helps to cool a parent off. Removing yourself to do some laundry, vacuum, hang Christmas lights, or write out holiday cards will give the parent a physical release, redirecting their focus for a bit, as well as giving them time to mull over the situation and figure out if their initial reaction was truly about the event at hand, or if perhaps, outside factors have crept in and latched their stress onto the situation.

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