Monday, November 17, 2008

Temper, Temper

Have you ever seen a 16 month old throw a temper tantrum? I don't mean sit down on the floor and cry. I mean throw herself down, put her head on her hands, and wail like there is no tomorrow. This is Savannah. She has "official" terrible two temper tantrums, and THEY SUCK! She is NOT even close to two yet. Everything pisses her off now. She can't share, will not relinquish a toy to anyone, and you sure as hell better not tell her "No" or I feel sorry for your eardrums. I try so hard to discipline, but how can I when everyone laughs so hard at her? Is there any advice out there for a mom who cannot believe her child is already becoming the Spawn of Satan 8 months ahead of time?

2 comments:

LoveLladro said...

You need to get the laughers to stop!!!

JoodyC said...

Laughing at tantrums usually causes them to stop. Obviously, your daughter sees this as a reaction and any reaction is good. People are paying attention to her. Clever girl. Admire that quality.

In the meantime, as you know, children usually start having tantrums when they have about a 100-200 word vocabulary. The big problem is having some words, but not enough words yet. The result can be a tantrum.

However, you might want to start a trigger list for times when it isn't just frustration. What was she doing? What time of day? What day of the week? What had she just eaten? Who was she with? Where was she? It may be that the carpet in Aunt Grace and Uncle George's home upsets her system (I'm sure it's not Aunt Grace and Uncle George), or if she's late getting to nap time.

Once you have a list of tantrum triggers you can help prevent them and life is a lot easier.

Judy Colbert
www.TuffTurtle.com/tantrums.htm