Friday, February 6, 2009

this is the inferno...

Welcome to Planet Tantrum. Please refrain from speaking to the Toddleator under ANY circumstances, other than to say "I love you, so sad you're having a tough time." Any other interaction is ill advised as it could result in a random foot/arm/hand/leg-to-face contact. Be aware, also, that screaming is perfectly normal---in fact, expected---at this stage of meltdown. It will sound as if someone is injuring the toddler, it will sound as if she hates you and everything you've ever said, done, implied, attempted, cared for, wanted, loved, or eaten. If the phrenetic line of thought seems psycotic, that's because it IS. Items, situations, food, that are loooong past in the toddler timeline will be resurrected in order to continue the hellacious harangue. Remember too, that not everyone surrounding the scene has children, not everyone will understand that it is in fact a normal growing pain for small children. People with children will offer sympathetic smiles, people without children will move away in horror. This is not personal, it is simply that childless persons generally don't carry that innate parental compassion.

There will come a time on Planet Tantrum where you will see 2 choices, as I have:
1) allow frustration to overwhelm the normally tolerant parental instinct, in which the only road leads to violence in some form or other
OR
2) LAUGH, chuckle, flex the jaw, breathe very deeply, and repeat " 'This too shall pass'...please, god-the-universe, Oh, please-please-please...'This too shall pass.' "
I think it's kind of silly to become SO frustrated, she is so small, everything is SO new, the emotions are SO intense....what would happen if someone treated me badly just because I happen to have a bad day?

1 comment:

Morgan said...

Saw your blog on BT!

And... don't worry, I came to this point at least once a day with the high schoolers I taught this past summer : D Sounds like you're dealing with it as best you can.

P.S. I am jealous of EVERYWHERE you have lived! Those are three of my favorite places!

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