Those challenging behaviors that are knotty and difficult to positively change can be very vexing as a parent, especially when they escalate for no apparent reason. Here are some suggestions about what to do to begin to unravel some of these behavioral knots. 1. Make sure that you and your parenting partner take at least a few minutes alone together to ground yourselves in perspective. Remember the big picture, restate your strengths as parents, restate your child's strengths