I had heard that around half-birthdays children start morphing into little monsters, yet I hadn't actually experienced that yet with our sweet little Leah... until Wednesday. Oh my! That morning, Leah let loose with the mother of all tantrums (well, at least that she had demonstrated thus far), and thankfully, she felt comfortable enough doing so in front of an audience.
Granted, this tantrum wasn't as bad as some (that I've heard about). In fact, it was slightly amusing, if only because it was such a shift in temperament for my little honey girl. Of course, that didn't negate my desire for it to be over, if only so that I could hug her.
So here's what happened:
Wednesday morning, Leah and I met Alison and Will at the playground. All was going well, until Leah wanted to be held. Not really a problem-- initially. Then she BIT me! "Uh-uh! No bite, Leah!" I scolded, and then put her down. And that was all it took. The floodgates opened and the siren started wailing. Then came the "pick-me-up" dance which consisted of feet stomping and arm reaching. Oh joy!
Alison (a seasoned veteran when it comes to tantrums since Will's older than Leah) and I just talked over the tantrum, doing our best to ignore Leah's cries for attention. I kept waiting, in fact, I was WILLING her to stop for just a few seconds so that I could pick her up (I refused to pick her up while she was crying, and thus reinforce the tantrum), but she persisted... for a good 15 to 20 minutes. (Even Will, sweet boy, tried consoling her, but to no avail.)
Thankfully, she finally settled long enough for me to pick her up, hug her, and reassure her, before loading her up in the car to go home.
I know that this is just the first of many tantrums. I just hope that I will be as amused as I was on Wednesday.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment