My oldest is known for being a lot of things; social, friendly, fun, and when he was younger something else- the child who has a temper tantrum whenever it is time to leave. It was inevitable no matter how much time we spent, it was never enough. When it was time to leave, the screaming would begin, limp body, flailing arms, running away, pretty much anything to make us stay a little longer. It was a nightmare!!! It was so draining and it was the thing that hung over every outing we had. Not only that it was embarrassing, the glances of disaproval of not being able to handle my kid, the dreaded shaking head- it was too much and entirely too stressful. I kept thinking it is a just a phase but it continued for what seemed like forever.
One day, I don't know why I didn't think of it before, I gave him a countdown to when we were leaving. Now this first time it didn't go perfectly, but I noticed there was far less crying then usual. Each time I did it the reaction was better and better. Then I realized what I had been doing- normally when it was time to leave, it was sudden and unexpected to him, plus I was pretty rushed to go when it was time to go. So the countdown prepared him to go more gently then my normal seemingly abrupt, "Time to go."
How do you deal with temper tantrums when it is time to go or other temper tantrum issues? Leave a comment and share a tip with our mommy friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment