Tantrums

Okay, I will be the first to admit it.  Before Brody I used to think that I would know exactly how to handle my kid if he threw a tantrum in the middle of a store or a restaurant.  Well, guess what our sweet little Brody has developed a big attitude lately and has demonstrated his anger with us in the most embarrassing ways.  Most of the time his outburst have to do with him wanting something that we will not let him have.  Here are a few examples:

     - In Rite Aid he decided to melt onto the floor and scream when I took away a plastic pill holder that he found while we were shopping.

     - At Outback Steakhouse the other night he started screaming because we wouldn't let him eat any more bread or hold his Styrofoam sippie cup.

     - At Gordmans he would turn into a limp noodle when I tried to take his hand and guide him to walk in the direction I wanted to go.

Luckily for us all of these outburst took place in a setting where we were able to leave promptly and avoid the stares from those around us thinking that they would handle the situation better.   The biggest problem I have with these tantrums is that they are occurring so often.  He cries, screams, and even growls at us when ever we take something away from him which unfortunately is very often.  He is just in to everything.  Dave and I have had to learn to let him flail on the floor at home screaming and ignore him when he is crying and tugging at our legs to be picked up.  It is so hard.  Anyone who said that you are able to tune out your kids cry and scream is lying.  It not only makes me very sad to hear him carry on like this it also annoys the heck out of me and I can often feel my blood pressure going up. 

I keep telling myself that this is just a stage and that we need to nip this in the butt now so that he knows who is in charge.  Its just so hard because it seams we are in a power struggle with him most of the day. It would be nice if there were clear directions for parents on how to handle these issues.  I recently told my friend who just had a new baby that the decisions you have to make for your child are so much easier when they are a little newborn.  All that you have to decide is how to feed them, diaper them, and how to get them to sleep.  Once you hit the toddler years the decisions you have to make become much more difficult.  You have to decide how to discipline your child, how to educate them and how to start teaching them to function appropriately in this crazy world.  I just hope that we are making the right decisions for Brody and that how we decide to handle these issues and the issues we encounter with him in the future will teach him to be a mature well adjusted adult.