Tantrums

How do you define the Dylan's behaviour? Everybody who knew Dylan will know how his temper is like, and most people would usually think that Dylan's bad behaviour or bad temper must have come from the parents. Oh yes the hard truth.


A tantrum is "usually a short period of angry outburst or unreasonable behaviour like crying, screaming, shouting and throwing objects."

There are some parents with easy going children who only need a furrowed brow from mum or dad to behave perfectly, but for us, it is difficult dealing with tantrums.

Ignore?

People will watch a tantrum and they will rarely offer to help. They might smile when your kid has a tantrum or just simply shake their heads with disapproval which actually make parents feel worse and oh yes the scorn of piercing eyes. Sorry it doesn't help at all.

Control my own temper

The temptation to scream back at your kid is so great when you are already so tired, overworked, pissed and stressed. While I know keeping calm is the only way I can deal with tantrums, sometimes you just couldn't hold back. The situation usually get worse when as parents, you are throwing tantrums as well. Are you copying your child, or is your child learning your very own behaviour?

Strategies

Tantrums are usually around being tired, hungry or worried about something, or it might be because they are not getting their own way. There are some strategies that I had learned, for example instead of saying a stern "NO" to what he had requested for when I need to do my laundry, I'll ask him if he can help me by participating in my activity before we proceed to do his, in a way buying time to distract his wants, and of course as parents, you need to keep your promise. I am not ashamed to say that using bribery in disguise is one of my favourite tactics. The idea is to reward good behaviour with lots of praise and attention. I am still learning, everyday is a new day, every step you take brings on new problems and discovery, learn to be patient and learn to keep calm and BREATHE.