Brenda Jones Harden, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Human Development, University of Maryland, College Park, describes how young children develop the capacity to modulate their emotions and behavior in the first years of life. A child's basic temperament has an impact on self-control, but temper tantrums are a normal part of child development. Dr. Jones Harden provides strategies that parents can use to help children learn how to recognize, label, and manage their strong feelings effectively.