Take A Number

Every young parent dreads the tantrum and many parents wonder how to handle it. They read books on the subject, sometimes many books. You can find these books on Amazon.com just in case you are a mom (or dad) and need to read up on the subject. If you don’t have time to search for yourself, here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=tantrums.



You will find all sorts of tasty tidbits about parenting and behavioral issues on Amazon, so for those of you having trouble, go to town – read these books, see if you can actually do anything suggested, and then get back to your normal life. Oh, and if you have a child with Asperger’s (high-functioning autism), don’t waste your money.



Most books say to ignore the tantrum. In general, I have found it difficult to ignore someone who is screaming and flailing like a brightly colored fish that lost his fish bowl, but we all have our weaknesses. I remember when my ever so sweet boys started having tantrums (about 12 years ago now) and how concerned I was about handling it just right. I tried to ignore them as suggested. Oh, and how I agonized about ignoring them (was I really doing the right thing? Maybe I should talk to them, try to reason with them, or try to understand the problem).



Well, guess what, my 14 month old had her first tantrum yesterday. Yep, she laid right down on the floor and started kicking her legs and looking right at me. My response: “oh, how cute but sorry sweetie I don’t have time because I am helping Tim with his homework.” Tim and I continued reading, and I could swear she looked at me aghast with mouth hanging open.



“Take a number, honey, I’ll get to your tantrum later.” Number 57, calling number 57. Sometimes, when the requests all come in at the same time and I can’t possibly respond to every one right then and there (I think they missed the lesson from Ben Franklin on how patience is a virtue), I just hand them a piece of paper with a number on it and tell them to wait in line. I know, bad parenting, very bad parenting. My children will probably grow up to be serial killers.



So, if you are really wondering what to do when your child has a tantrum, have more children. You won’t have time to wonder or creatively handle the situation or read or…on some days go to the bathroom.