I need to save totals in a Parent Table for amounts in a Child Table.

I'm having the Child Field-Level Rule update the Parent Field. I don't want the Parent Record-Level Rule to execute. Is there a common/standard way of doing this?
I'm inclined to do it one of 2 ways:
1. Set a private variable in the Child Rule that the Parent Rule checks.
2. Have the Parent Rule check for the Child Rule in Program(1-n).

Is there a better way?