How do you deal with your children when they won't stop whining?

jonsblond and I were both twenty-one when our first child Jacob was born in ‘92. Kyle followed a couple of years later in ‘94. I was a married adult at the time but far from mature or patient. When the boys would fight and cry incessantly I would oftentimes give them a spanking and holler at them to “knock it off!”

Flash forward to now. Jacob and Kyle are 16 and 14 respectively. There is also a new addition, Emily, age 5. She can whine and throw a fit the likes of which her brothers never dreamed of. I am older and, if not wiser, much more patient than I used to be. I have found that I get the same effect ignoring the tantrum as I did by spanking and yelling. It also doesn’t stress me or the rest of the family out like the yelling matches used to.

What about you Fluther? How do you parents deal with your kids when they are acting up? Have any of you ever had an experience where you tried a gentler method and got the same, desired effect?