Princess and the Temper Tantrums
It’s official. Princess Zoie is starting to show her diva side…throwing herself down on the floor or swinging her head back at full force or screeeching in high pitch agony. Her big brother barely missed a blow to the nose today. I’ve noticed a lot of us are going thru the same thing right now. Happy little angels that turn into raging tyrants in 2.3 seconds when they don’t get their way. Some of us have tried to ignore the spurts… thinking they will disappear magically, but we know its here to stay. We have to deal with the chubby forces of nature face on so we can live happily ever after:))
I’d love to hear some of the creative things you’re doing to calm the storm. Every child is so unique and special, but some of you really have GREAT ideas!!
Uh oh! You, too? Good to know we're not the only ones! So far we haven't been very creative…just using tried & true parenting techniques (not reinforcing the behavior). We could use some fresh ideas for navigating the temper tantrums. They're looking a lot different this time around, so I'm waiting with baited breath for some helpful comments. Much love to the Gibsons!Erica
Don't ignore the force right now!!!!! Deal with it NOW. . .don't wait for later!!! That is my advice. We have a "cry baby chair" in the house and when Gabby is crying because she didn't get her way or whatever, we send her to it. She knows that she has to sit in it until she is happy! It has worked for all of my hard headed kids. . .especially for my hard headed little Rwandan! When she is happy, she is finished. Now, sometimes, she'll take herself to the chair before she even starts to get upset with the "NOs" in her life! 🙂 Be consistent. Make the kids be consistent and let her know that it just isn't an option.
We had a cry chair too. J could do what she needed to do but it had to be in the chair and the chair was usually away from all the happenings (of course where I could still see her). JJ is right to probably deal with it now. You could also try what I like to call – redirection. If it's something that isn't way over the top and needs correction we practiced redirection. Help her get her focus on something else like the birdie outside, puppy upstairs, etc.
Great advice! I can already tell we're going to need a 'cry chair' in the not-so-distance future!!
Sakari puts herself into her time out spot…I think that everyone is right, consistency of course is key! Now, whenever she even gets a little whiny – we ask her if she needs a time out and she'll go to her spot on her own and we'll go get her when she finds her happy heart.
We're dealing with the same thing with our little guy right now. He wants to have his way. When he throws a fit he has to sit. I'm so glad to hear we're not the only ones.Tisha
We've been dealing with this in some form since we got Levi. At first it was us trying to show him he could trust us and that screaming..with NO tears…for things was not the way to get it. We'd wait until he calmed down (at first that took a while, but quickly got shorter and shorter) and then he would receive what it was he was after. Now, he will "fall out" as I like to call it, if he is told no or sent in a different direction, especially if he's tired or hungry. The same process occurs. He is set in a spot (it used to be his bed, but now he's big enough to understand "SIT" and will stay until told he can get up, so a chair works) and when he calms I always tell him in simple words "NO FITS" and the pick him up and make up. He's learning. They are so smart. Don't get played! 🙂