Whether you have experience with kids or not, everything is still the same. Kids are more complicated than operating systems and more baffling than building an engine. SOmetimes you have someone that will back you up and sometimes you don't. The only thing you can do is the best you can do. There is no hard and fast right or wrong with kids because they are all different.

If it makes you feel better, it is perfectly acceptable to pick up a child and make them stay where you want them to stay. Children are egoccentrics and therefore the world revolves around them and feel that you should respond in a way that they like. However, they will learn the world does not revolve around them only by letting them know that you are upset and making them do what you feel is best for them.

I totally understand your frustration. It's hard to learn how to deal with kids especially when you don't have a lot of support backing you up.