Comments on: Kettle Corn & Tantrums

By: Andrea

Andrea — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:53:37 +0000

Wow does this post bring back memories! My oldest daughter would have tantrums (much to my dismay) from about 18mos until almost 3yrs old that you would have to see to believe. What got me through it (after a lot of trial and error) was waiting until she either got herself together or wore herself out to address the issue. This isn’t for everyone and it takes an enourmous amount of patience as well as a thick enough skin to not really be concerned about onlookers, but it did work for me. By the way my daughter is now a delightful, happy and well-adjusted 10yr old so I guess neither of us were too damaged by the tantrm phase. : )

By: Carla

Carla — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:55:14 +0000

@A-mom You deserve major props for just being willing to take your daughter to swim class while pregnant with your second! I was such a tired mess during my second pregnancy we barely left the house. Hopefully someone will have some good advice for making it thru swim class and you never know it could be a smashing success this week =)

@Stacey B We are naive, hopeful creatures us moms. I always think I can redirect and distract. Sometimes I succeed other times I fail but I figure our kids need us to be as naive and hopeful as we are since it’s always a 50/50 chance on what the outcome will be.

By: Stacey B

Stacey B — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:36:35 +0000

Wish I had read this before taking my son to the store on Sunday. Wish I had just left the cart and drove home instead of believing I could redirect his behavior. Mostly wish I hadn’t blown my whole day on a power struggle with a 6 yr old.

By: A-mom-my

A-mom-my — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:54:50 +0000

I just recently had a very similar experience with my 2yr-4mo daughter. It was her first mom and me swim lesson at the Y. She had a wonderful time, but when it came time for our lesson to be over and to get out of the pool, she lost it. Of course. Over stimulation at the max! But we couldn’t quickly evacuate the area, we had to get out of our wet suits (it’s winter! i’m 6 month pregnant!). There was no talking her down, and she proceeded to scream, wail, squirm, and cry the entire time I was trying to get us dried off, warm, and dressed. As we left the family dressing area, people wouldn’t make eye contact with us, as if scared of our disease! I have never been one to be easily embarrassed, but this was true embarrassment. By the time I was able to get to the car and drive home, I was the one nearing tears!

I’m not sure what I could have done differently, but we are going to go again this week, hoping for a better experience. We’ve talked, at length, about our next visit to the pool. How we will have fun in the pool, but when it’s time for us to get out, we will do so without crying. We’ve talked about how someone else will get a turn in the pool after us, and that we are sharing the pool, etc. I hope this talking will help. But maybe I’m naive.

One thing is for sure: toddlers are fickle and unpredictable, and certainly keep their parents on their toes!