[When my son was younger than 2 years old.]
When my son 倒曬D水出黎, I gave him a cloth and asked him to wipe the floor clean (of course I stayed with him ). Or sometimes I understood that he wanted to play water, I set the toys for him to play.
But when he did something dangerous, I just removed him from the spot or blocked his way.
He tried many many times, and I stayed the same, finally, he knew that some 柜門can be opened with toys inside and some cannot be opened because Mama said NO.
[my son is now over 3 years old]
He sometimes disobeys me to test my limit. I will use punishments like no TV, no tea etc.
But I find that to make all the methods more effective, LOOK INTO HIS EYES WHEN I SAY NO. Then he will know that I really mean it.
I agree with you that teaching a farther is difficult to teach the kid. No matter how I teach the kids, hubby will stick to the traditional punishment methods. Quite disappointed!