Tantrums can come on all of a sudden. Everything is fine, then, bam, your child explodes into crying, kicking and screaming. The kiddo's latest tantrum was over water. She was thirsty, mainly because she had been playing and laughing with her friends and talking and singing (holiday play practice), and she had declined all opportunities to hit the water fountain. We were on our way home when she decided that she needed water, immediately, and was irate when I told her that the nearest water was 20 minutes away, at our house. The whining was annoying. The fake crying was irritating. However, when the kiddo started kicking the seat, I had to put my foot down. So I did. I put my foot down, on the brake, and put on my flashers. Fortunately, there was no traffic behind me, because, as I told the kiddo, "I refuse to move until you stop that behavior. I understand that you are thirsty, and you can have some water as soon as we get home, but you need to calm down. Right. Now."
It worked! The kiddo continued to complain about how thirsty* she was, but at least she did so in a calm way. Then, when we got home...well, she had to show off for her daddy and ignored the milk offered to her. At least I got to drive home in peace...
*Legal disclaimer: only you know when your child is truly as parched as the Sahara. In the case of an actual emergency, douse your child with water and carry on.
No comments:
Post a Comment