What are mothers and toddlers doing 20-25 times per hour? It's not blowing kisses or playing hide and seek. Nope. It's arguing. That's according to a recent research study. Colleagues at Lehigh University studied 60 moms and their children on two different occasions: once when the children were 30 months old and once again six months later. During the first observation, moms brought their children to the researchers' lab which was rich with opportunities for meltdowns (frustrating puzzles and out-of-reach toys etc). Then, when the kids were 36 months old, the moms tape-recorded their interactions with their children just before and during dinner time. This was to give the researchers a picture of natural interactions at home-not in a research lab. What did the researchers learn? Moms and their toddlers were arguing on average between 20-25 times an hour. Again, this was during times when conflict was likely so these ongoing battles probably weren't going on all day. Most importantly, the study showed that the conflicts were resolved without major drama if the mom and her toddler had a good relationship. That's the good news. The bad news: no matter how great the relationship is, mother-child conflicts are normal and frequent during the toddler and preschool years.