Mommy Monday: I'm going to hold my breath until you stop throwing tantrums!

 "BoobieBootieheadButtTrash!"

Tantrums. When a person throws a fit due to inability to otherwise express the jumble of emotions.

Before I had children, I didn’t realize how often adults threw tantrums. Jamming a pen into the carpet. Slamming the steering wheel. Grunting loudly. Shaking a newspaper. Kicking the dirt. Yelling profanities.

It's no surprise children throw tantrums when adults have difficulty controlling themselves.

National Association of School Psychologists provides a list of prevention and intervention tips. One of my favorites is "Before you manage your child, you must manage your own behavior."

National Public Radio had an informative article in December 2011 about a recent study on tantrums. The aha! moment for me in this article was that they discovered anger combined with sadness during a child's tantrum.  It's not fun to be out of control.  Our children don't want to misbehave and get in trouble.  After reading this article, I watched my son as he threw a tantrum and then I dove in between peaks of anger--when I knew he was dipping into sadness.  I sat down on the floor, pulled him into my lap, and held him. He sobbed in my arms until he felt better.  And then you know what he did? He thanked me.

Love and Logic is magic. I truly believe it.  It worked in my high school classroom and it works on toddlers.  This one little link doesn't give the entire concept, but it's worth checking out. When it is applied as instructed, the techniques work.  Each time, I'm left a little baffled at the ease--and fun--of discipline. 

If you're dealing with tantrums in your home, these articles are worth your time.  They've certainly helped me.