Just when you think the demons have taken over, angels returned my sweet sunshine girl. Thank You Jesus!
To celebrate we went outside and enjoyed the first few days of spring.
We tried Dr.Karps’ Happiest Toddler On The Block DVD in an attempt to restore sanity, however Dr. Karp has never met Stormy Sunny and after two days of me on the floor acting out Sunny’s emotions I gave up. I don’t know what works for everyone, but I can speak to what works for me and when she throws her tantrums I place her on her play mat ( so she doesn’t crack her skull open ) and I leave her there to scream, kick, and cry. I walk away and ignore her for 1-2 minutes until she calms down. When she’s done she gets up ( still whining) and comes to me, that’s when I give her a hug and kiss and tell her I love her but in this house we don’t “do” tantrums. I’m not sure how much she really understands at this point, nor do I know if my punishments are hurting her emotionally- but what I do know is that she has only thrown 2 tantrums since our first time out and I’m happier knowing she is at least starting to acknowledge that I am the boss in this house, not her.
So yep, as it turns out I’m a little old school- and I’m kind of liking that about me. I actually caught myself saying “If you throw that toy again we will leave” while we were at Mommy and Me yoga yesterday. Again, she doesn’t understand my words but I think she knows my tone- she looked at me and I looked at her and we called a truce in the middle of downward facing dog.
It’s hard to explain but when she acts crazy I honestly worry that all this time she’s been this sweet angel of a child and then all of a sudden she becomes this kid that I don’t recognize and every single time I think, OMG maybe she’s a brat! Maybe her sweet sweet personality was all a front….can babies outgrow their sweetness? The answer is no, they are all perfect just as God made them- but teething and growing and talking stretches their limits and shifts our solid ground and we all have to readjust as she grows up.
I’m learning people- I .Am. Learning.
