Sunday, June 10, 2007

And a toddler reared it's ugly head

Have you ever been ambushed by a small, jumping, screaming, crying wolverine? If you answered yes, then you know the horribleness that is a full-blown temper tantrum of a two-a-half year old.

It all started innocently enough. We'd had a lovely evening of dinner and palying. Peanut discovered the wonder that is a super-soaker. She had been watering floweres with Jen, when I showed up with a water gun, ready to soak them both. Sure, Jen had the unlimited water supplied by the hose, but I had the advantage of a toddler willing to flip sides.

Peanut had a blast figuring out that you can use something other than a hose to get people wet. Lots of wet fun ensued, and we played 'til near dark.

We tramped inside and got Peanut into her bath. I got her soaped up and rinsed off, and normally, I would have let her splash in the tub for a while. She wanted to lay down in the tub (which we all know isn't safe, and so does she), and had a fit when I made her sit up. She started hollering at me, so she had to get out of the tub. Naturally, this did nothing to calm her down. Soon, this...



became this...




...times a million.

Red faced, crying, screaming, hopping, and inconsolable. I felt bad for her that she so upset. She wanted to get back into the tub, and kept telling me that she wasn't done with her bath. Man, sometimes being a parent and disciplining your child sucks.

After a few minutes, we were finally able to calm her down and get her into her pajamas. After apologies all around, and a quick story and bedtime prayers, Peanut gave Jen and I each a great big hug, Peanut finally was able to relax in her bed.

After a long night, she's passed right out, sleeping soundly...

For now.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have to admit, it was the worst tantrum of her nearly 30 months of life. You handled it well though and she was no less a Daddy's girl today than any other, so no lasting harm done. During her display of temper, I had a scary flashback to when I was little and would do something similar to my mother....sorry about that, I think she get's it from me. You're welcome! :)

The Mrs. said...

Ah, yes. The tantrum. Want to hear some good news? Word on the street is three is worse than two. We hit that age in a month. Yay me!

Love the shark picture. Give yourself about a month more of blogging, and you'll realize that a tantrum like that is so blogworthy that you'll stop mid-disciplining to take a picture of it. Or maybe that's just me. =)

Sometimes it's hard being a kid, isn't it?

Anonymous said...

Ask ZZ to tell you about her first day at school. I had to carry her in! One day she got in some kind of trouble, had a tantrum (?), and told the principal she(ZZ) had red hair, and the principle said she did too!

ggpa