Do your kids have temper tantrums? Mine get mad but very rarely do they feel the need to lose control and scream and cry...tonight was one of those rare occasions.
Liam slapped his brother for the umpteenth time. He is in a hitting stage and I have no idea how to end it. I asked him to sit still and think about it for a few minutes. He complained, and whined and I know he was tired, so I told him that it was bedtime... this set-off 45 minutes of hollering and crying and the "I hate yous".
I should have explained that Liam is the world's biggest Mama's boy. I nursed that little milk monkey until he was 2 and a half and he'd still be nursing if it were up to him. We have a close and very special relationship, so it stung a little to be told he hates me 25 times in 10 minutes.
He finally told me he wanted me to go away, so I said I love you and started to stand up and he shreiked "WHERE are you GOING!!!???". I told him I was going away because he told me to and he started to cry and everything turned around.
I tried hard, throughout the tantrum to give him alternative words to use to express his feelings... I told him it was ok to tell me that he HATES what I am doing, or what is happening and that I knew he was feeling very very angry and that it was alright to tell someone that... I stayed calm, but it still stung.
I spent the next 30 minutes laying on the top bunk, reading 'Rainbow Fish' and and taking Sarah MacLaughlin requests (my kids like Miss Sarah), I rubbed his back and made up a song about him sliding down a rainbow with his 'Lamby', tucked him in and told him I loved him. He smiled and rolled over, the tantrum forgotten.
All is well and right in the Jones house...
What do YOU do when your child loses control?
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