How To Tame Tantrums
Nov 08, 2021
Hey There Parenting Peep!
If you have spent even 20 seconds looking at parenting resources, you've already seen a million books, videos, and 'helpful' social media posts on dealing with tantrums. But, have you made your tantrum-free fantasy a reality yet? Ha!
You probably already know that you’re supposed to avoid feeding into tantrum drama and use natural consequences, yada yada. But knowing that doesn’t make it easy to actually DO.
Tantrums are maddening and we can trick ourselves into believing we can calm them down by explaining things when kids are upset. That is SOOO wrong. You can't rationalize with ANYONE when they are upset. When it comes to tantrums, all of us (including adults) are incapable of maturity or clear thought.
I find it much easier to do the right thing with tantrums when I can remember WHY kids behave this way.
Tantrums are just one of the myriad ways kids are constantly doing 2 things:
- Exerting power and control
- Experimenting with the world around them
Knowing that every human has the need to do these things makes it a lot easier to stay cool and recognize that our kids are just being kids. We can not only implement consequences, so they learn that tantrums result in unfavorable results to their experiment, but we can also do that from a place of acceptance.
That acceptance isn’t just about our kids’ behavior, it’s also acceptance toward ourselves! Because tantrums literally mean NOTHING about the quality of a child's upbringing. They are unavoidable and a sign of normal kids. It's how we respond to them that matters.
I hope you're registered for this month’s Toddler Time workshop, to learn the responses and reactions that minimize tantrums (just because they're normal doesn't mean they have to happen all the time!) and teach our kids other ways to express themselves. This workshop is all about the big challenges of toddlerhood, and tantrums are one of the biggest!
Just like all my workshops, Toddler Time will be an interactive experience. My goal is always to give you actionable tools you can use immediately to change the behavior in your home. And I always include lots of free goodies, including extended live coaching and Q&As, free sessions with me, replays, and printable guides. If you have a toddler, you NEED to be there with me!
Love, Ann